Collins White Circle Artists Part XXVI - Franklin Carmichael (4)

Continuing on from part III here are five more examples of early 1943 covers from the White Circle paperback line. All showing a sophisticated designer that might be famed Canadian painter Franklin Carmichael.

White Circle 59 - 1943

White Circle 61 - 1943

White Circle 63 - 1946

White Circle 64 - 1943

White Circle 65 - 1943

Collins White Circle Artists Part XXV - Franklin Carmichael (3)

In part II I introduced the idea that Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael designed White Circle paperbacks in 1943. When Wm. Collins Sons & Co, Canada started the White Circle imprint in 1942 they modeled the covers on the parent company's White Circle line in the UK. Starting with the 1943 issues illustrated covers replaced these uninspired efforts. The 32 books published in the first half of 1943 (51-72 and 101-110) have a level of design that, it seems to me, could only have come from a very talented hand. Carmichael did design at least three hard covers for Collins in the mid 1940s. He was also responsible for the hiring of the artist who started handling the covers in the last half of 1943 - Margaret Paull.

From the McMichael Canadian Art Collection web site:

Carmichael joined the Sampson-Matthews firm in 1922, probably as head designer under the art directorship of J.E. Sampson. Among his projects at Sampson-Matthews, Carmichael worked on the illustration and design of a number of promotional brochures as well as advertisements for newspapers and magazines. In step with the fashions of the times, his work increasingly reflected the flat, simplified design popular in the 1920s. In the 1920s Carmichael also created illustrations for stories, mostly in magazines. The distinctive commercial art of Franklin Carmichael is among the finest examples of design work by the Group of Seven.

Here are four more examples.

White Circle 53 - 1943

White Circle 55 - 1943

White Circle 56 - 1943

White Circle 58 - 1943

Collins White Circle Artists Part XIII - Franklin Carmichael (2)

In part I I discussed the one White Circle book published by Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd. that had art work by the distinguished Canadian artist Franklin Carmichael. To be more specific, the one book that acknowledges his work. I have a feeling that there were more White Circles in which he had a hand.

The first 50 White circles published in 1942 had text only covers. Illustrated covers were introduced with the spring 1943 books - numbers 51 through 72 plus 101 to 110. None of these books had signed art work. Starting with the fall 1943 books, number 74 on, Margaret Paull became responsible for the covers.

We know that Franklin Carmichael worked on three hard covers for Collins and that he was responsible for the hiring of Paull. An article in the trade magazine Quill & Quire (May, 1985, p. 20) says that after a short time at an advertising firm Paull joined Collins in 1943 when Carmichael, who was one of her former OCA teachers, “called her one day and suggested that she look into a position at [Collins] designing covers for and producing paperbacks”.

So it is possible that he was responsible for the paperbacks until someone could be found to take over on a permanent basis. The best evidence is the books themselves which show a sophisticated design hand. The covers are among the best Collins produced and significantly different from their American counterparts. Here are a few of them.

White Circle 54

White Circle 57

White Circle 60 (reprint)

White Circle 62

White Circle 66

White Circle 67

Collins White Circle Artists Part XII - Franklin Carmichael (1)

Franklin Carmichael is a well known Canadian artist - one of the Group of Seven. In the 1940s, before his death in 1945, Carmichael designed three hard cover novels for Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd. One of the books was Grace Campbell's Thorn-Apple Tree. Here is what the book editor for the Globe & Mail W. A. Deacon had to say (G&M, October 17, 1942, p. 22) about Carmichael's work -

"For the first time in Canadian Publishing history, an artist skilled in book designing was put in charge of the production of a book for general sale, and given a completely free hand. ... The result is not only a book physically beautiful but a harmony evident between all parts of the work. We have had many Canadian books that had marvellous pictures or choice bindings or agreeable type. Seldom have all details stood in precise relation to each other."

Carmichael produced 15 wood engravings for the novel. After 17 printings of the first edition, Collins published a new edition in June 1947 as White Circle Pocket 310. The cover artist is unknown but all of Carmichael's woodcuts are in this edition.