For some reason I've been thinking about Mitchell Hooks recently. I had the great pleasure - honour, actually - of meeting Mitchell in person last summer. He is both an incredible artist and a truly fine gentleman. Spending a couple of hours over lunch at the Society of Illustrators with Mitchell, Murray Tinkelman and Bob Levering will always be one of my most cherished memories. I've previously written about Mitchell's career so there won't be a lot of text accompanying this week's posts - but I did want to share more of his artwork with you. Since writing about Mitchell I've noticed more of and more of his work - especially his paperback covers - is beginning to appear on blogs, websites and especially on Flickr, among those who archive old paperback covers. Chief among those doing the good work of preserving Mitchell Hooks' legacy in paperbacks is my friend, Uilke (AKA UK Vintage). Most of today's scans are from Uilke's Mitchell Hooks Flickr set - a truly stunning, always growing collection that currently comprises 72 covers - so many thanks, Uilke, for generously sharing these treasures with us! As you scroll down, just look at how Mitchell's style changed over the first half of the '50s... 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 These last two are from Flickr member Kay Atkinson (AKA The Woman in the Woods) and are from 1955... ... and 1958, respectively. The bold, graphic treatment Mitchell developed makes his work during the second half of the '50s among my favourite of all time. To see many more examples of Mitchell Hooks' paperback cover art, visit UK Vintage's Flickr set.