Bantam Books 366 - Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Bantam Books 366, 1949
Cover Artist: Bill Shoyer
About the cover –
He had tied her to an upright beam in the centre of the room, her perfect figure and elegant dress swathed in the sheets that dug into her flesh and secured her to the post. She was tall, dark, and slender, with a proud, finely cut face so regular it would have been impassive except for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful, dark, eager eyes. The eyes—full of fear and grief—stared out at her tormentor with a dreadful questioning.
Bantam's misleading description of this "pivotal cover-worthy" scene is actually a mashup of two separate scenes in the book.
The first, from chapter 7, describes the Stapletons:
"There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister, for Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and grey eyes, while she was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England— slim, elegant, and tall. She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it might have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful dark, eager eyes. With her perfect figure and elegant dress she was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely moorland path."
The second scene is near the end of the story in Chapter 14:
"In the centre of this room there was an upright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the old worm-eaten baulk of timber which spanned the roof. To this post a figure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been used to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it was that of a man or a woman. One towel passed round the throat and was secured at the back of the pillar. Another covered the lower part of the face, and over it two dark eyes— eyes full of grief and shame and a dreadful questioning— stared back at us. In a minute we had torn off the gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in front of us. As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear red weal of a whiplash across her neck."
Bantam Books 366 - Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Bantam Books 366, 1949
Cover Artist: Bill Shoyer
About the cover –
He had tied her to an upright beam in the centre of the room, her perfect figure and elegant dress swathed in the sheets that dug into her flesh and secured her to the post. She was tall, dark, and slender, with a proud, finely cut face so regular it would have been impassive except for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful, dark, eager eyes. The eyes—full of fear and grief—stared out at her tormentor with a dreadful questioning.
Bantam's misleading description of this "pivotal cover-worthy" scene is actually a mashup of two separate scenes in the book.
The first, from chapter 7, describes the Stapletons:
"There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister, for Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and grey eyes, while she was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England— slim, elegant, and tall. She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it might have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful dark, eager eyes. With her perfect figure and elegant dress she was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely moorland path."
The second scene is near the end of the story in Chapter 14:
"In the centre of this room there was an upright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the old worm-eaten baulk of timber which spanned the roof. To this post a figure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been used to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it was that of a man or a woman. One towel passed round the throat and was secured at the back of the pillar. Another covered the lower part of the face, and over it two dark eyes— eyes full of grief and shame and a dreadful questioning— stared back at us. In a minute we had torn off the gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in front of us. As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear red weal of a whiplash across her neck."