Mapback
Mapback is a term used by paperback collectors to refer to the earliest paperback books published by Dell Books, beginning in 1943. The books are known as mapbacks because the back cover of the book contains a map that illustrates the location of the action. Dell books were numbered in series. Mapbacks extend from #1 to at least #550; then maps became less of a fixed feature of the books and disappeared entirely in 1951. The artwork of the maps began with quite detailed maps, and later numbers contain more stylized ones. "The back cover map was very popular with readers and remains popular with collectors ... the Dell "mapbacks" are among the most well known vintage paperbacks."[1]
"Besides distinctive front covers and back-cover maps, Dell paperbacks also had a number of other interesting features, including an "eye-in-keyhole" logo, front-cover blurbs, character lists, lists of key items or events in the book ("tantalizer-pages"), crowded title pages, and special chapter titles."[2]
"Dell's most memorable design innovation was not on the front but on the back covers ... the entire back covers given over to maps, or variously charts, blueprints, or what have you to represent story locale or scene of the crime: a stretch of California highway, the interior of an apartment, a sheik's "city of stones". It was an enjoyable if slightly goofy gimmick and, amazingly, managed to last nearly ten years."[3]
References
- ^ Canja, Jeff (2002). Collectable Paperback Books: A new vintage paperback price reference (Second edition). East Lansing, MI: Glenmoor Publishing.
- ^ Lyles, William H (1983). Putting Dell on the Map: A History of the Dell Paperbacks. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
- ^ Server, Lee (1994). Over My Dead Body: The Sensational Age of the American Paperback: 1945-1955. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.