Below I’m sharing a gallery of just some of the fabulous album covers by Alex Steinweiss, inventor of the album cover.
What a guy! He created a whole new world of expression that has subsequently gone on to become a huge part of the fabric of musical life and culture, of the last 80 odd years.
All of the above images come from here, where you can find yet more. That website was, I believe, created around a show staged quite some time ago (poss around 2008?).
I have a book – Taschen, perhaps? – with loads of Steinweiss’ work. Not just album covers. It’s a real treasure trove. But the book is rather small (15 x 20 cm, or thereabouts).
I recently searched for the larger version of the same book. But the cost is beyond my means. Then I looked for a postcard set. There ain’t one! Massive gap in market/sales opportunity!
I did find this very tantalising website (see also three above images). But whilst they seem to have done exactly what I want to find – printed quality facsimiles of a bunch (50?) of Steinweiss album covers – it doesn’t seem to have been a commercially public project. I’ve emailed them, to see if one can buy their prints… I await a reply!