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art book discordian timeline discordianism illuminati illuminatus! robert anton wilson robert shea

Brit Covers of Illuminatus!

Over at the facebook, Geoff Blogg recently posted the images below of the British editions of Illuminatus! (Amazon) paperbacks published by Sphere Books in 1976-77.

Although we haven’t been able to completely confirm it, the covers appear to be the work of artist Chris Foss who illustrated a slew of Sci-Fi titles during this period by such authors as Philip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. Le Guin and prog rock album covers by the likes of Hawkwind.

Cover, Illuminatus! The Eye in the Pyramid
Cover, Illuminatus! The Golden Apple
Cover, Illuminatus! Leviathan

3 replies on “Brit Covers of Illuminatus!”

They’re very cool covers; I have copies of those editions myself. I wonder who did the overall cover design, the elements common to the US and UK editions: the title and frame around the illustration?

The “Prove You Are a Discordian Pope” question always throws me, incidentally. I want to answer 5 or 23 regardless of whether that’s mathematically correct.

I’m pretty sure that the cover for book 1 is by Tony Roberts and was taken from an illo in Omni – or maybe vice versa! Chasing this piece through the net is an illuminati-style task for some reason. Here are a couple of links including a physical model (which I must try to buy at some stage ):
https://mbasic.facebook.com/295503277131927/photos/a.364970106851910.114867.295503277131927/890767117605537/?type=1&source=56
http://ski-ffy.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/omni-vol-5-no-6-1983-paul-lehr-tony.html
http://www.betelgeuse.org.uk/illuminatus!.html

Going to ask Tony if I can use the design for my own Illuminati-esque comic strip some day. Guessing books 2 and 3 are also by Roberts – I recall buying the books when they first came out in the 70’s purely on the strength of the covers – and then I read them! WOW!! Still not sure I understood it all but it’s one hell of a ride and the older I get the more it seems to make sense – that’s more than a little worrying…
Be interested to hear from anyone who knows more than I do (and no I don’t mean that in a Bob Dylan way lol!!).
Peace out.

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