The Spring 1944 Modern Library catalog proclaimed the availability of the illustrated editions "containing the work of America's foremost living artists and book designers." At $1.50 for each boxed copy, it was a nickel more expensive than the giants and a whopping 55¢ (nearly two thirds!) more than the standard editions. It was an instant hit. In a March 1944 letter to his partner Donald Klopfer, who was fighting for the Allies in Europe at the time, Bennett Cerf wrote "The reception of the Illustrated Modern Library books is nothing less than ecstatic."
Gathered together below are all the examples of the illustrated editions in the ModernLib dust jacket database. If you have one that isn't shown here, please check to see if I missed it on its author's page; if so let me know and, if you can, send along a scan (JPG format, 150-300 DPI).
- Members: Click an image to go to its author's page.
Anyone: Click
under an image to see a small sample of that title's illustrations.
