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Desmond Cory's first
novels came out in hard-back during the
early 1950s. Over a 30 year period, Cory's
novels were seldom out of print, with many
being re-published both in Britain and the
USA under different titles.
The first British hardbacks featured some
attractive cover designs very much of their
time. The 1950s covers had painted artwork
that continued into the 1960s, but by this
time the simpler graphic illustrations were
becoming more popular.
During the
70s and 80s photographic covers took over.
In the 1990s Cory's US publishers returned
to the more attractive hand-painted designs
that featured the superb art of Paul Cozzolino.
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| Following
early success with his serial character
Johnny Fedora, Desmond Cory wrote several
more assignments for this fictional British
secret agent. Throughout the 50s they were
published mostly by Frederick Muller Ltd.,
London with some terrific covers. |
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By
the mid-1950s Cory's novels were also
being published in paperback by World
Distribution Ltd in Manchester. "Height
of Day" was the first, a Fedora
novel Cory stated he wrote in just a
number of days. For this reason, it
was not Cory's favorite novel, but the
public continued to buy them. In 1955
five Cory novels were published in either
paperback or hardback. Cory even wrote
under another nome-de-plume (Theo Callas),
and saw his novels converted into BBC
Radio plays.
Cory's popularity grew futher in the
years that followed. In 1957, six novels
published in one year alone, and in
1958 , Maclean Rogers directed the film
"The Mark of the Phoenix "
, based on Cory's novel "The Phoenix
Sings".
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During the
early 1960s, US publishers also began
to print Desmond Cory's newer novels.
"Pilgrim on the Island"
was the first (by Walker & Company,
New York), followed by "Undertow".
This was at a time when Cory was already
widening the scope of his work, with
"Jones on the Belgrade Express
" (his 2nd novel for children),
and "Stranglehold", which
introduced Cory's new off-beat hero
- Mr. Dee.
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The mid-sixties
marked a defining moment for Cory's
work. While his publishers pressed
him for more Fedora novels (with which
he obliged), the author was already
tiring of the character, and wrote
"Deadfall", a pschological thriller totally different from his previous
material. Published both in Britain
and the USA in 1965 as a hard-back,
the American version (by Walker &
Company, New York) is to many the
more attractive design. It's marvellous
design by Roberta Kimmel, consists
of a silver jacket with a black cat.
Inside, the book is of a high quality
blue cloth with silver slanting lettering.
The novel was to prove to be Desmond
Cory's most successful, being made
into a Twentieth Century Fox movie
with Michael Caine.
During the
late 60s, the demand for Cory's British
espionage novels continued in the
USA as in Britain. Award Books, New
York, republished most of the Johnny
Fedora novels, most under new titles.
For some strange reason, only "
Johnnny Goes West" kept it original
title, while others received more
dubious titles (in vogue with the
time) such as " The Nazi Assasins",
" The Swastika Hunt", and
"the Gestapo Files".
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Click here to continue: Part 2 (1970s-1990s)
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