H. Lawrence Hoffman

H. Lawrence Hoffman (23 October 1911 – 20 January 1977) was a commercial book jacket designer and illustrator who worked in New York City. He illustrated book covers for over 25 publishing companies, including Pocket Books, Popular Library, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, The Viking Press, and Random House. Over the course of his career, he created over 600 book jacket covers.

From 1941 to 1951, he was an art director and partner at Immerman Art Studios. From 1952 till the end of his career he worked as a free-lance artist and book illustrator. He taught illustration and lettering at The Cooper Union from 1960 to 1967 and commercial art at C.W. Post University from 1967 to 1976.

Beginning in 1943, Hoffman designed (sometimes along with Sol Immerman) all but 11 of the first 125 paperback covers for Popular Library. Hoffman repeated the cover illustration as a smaller line drawing on the title page.[1]

One of his most significant works was to design the dust jacket and the 21 illustrations for “The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer: A New Modern English Prose Translation by R,M, Lumiansky” published in 1948 by Simon & Schuster. The book was selected as one of the 50 best books of the year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Father to David Hoffman, filmmaker.

Illustrated
  • Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time by Judith Merril, hard cover, Random House; 1st edition (November 1, 1954)[2]
  • Father Marquette and the Great Rivers by August Derleth, Vision Books, 1955
  • Cross in the West by Mark Boesch, Vision Books 1956
  • Fighting Father Duffy Jim Bishop and Virginia Lee Bishop, Vision Books, New York, 1956
  • Governor All Smith by James A. Farley and James C. G. Conniff, Vision Book, Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, New York, 1959
  • More champions in sports and spirit by Ed Fitzgerald (1919-2001)(sports writer, editor Sport magazine), Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959
  • The Canterbury tales of Geoffrey Chaucer : a new modern English prose translation, translated by R.M. Lumiansky, Hoffman, Washington Square Press, 1960, 1967
  • Alien Art, by Gordon R. Dickson, hardcover, E. P. Dutton (1973) [3]
  • The Building Book: About Houses the World Over by Evelyn E. Smith, Howell Soskin publishers, New York, 1972

Cover Art
Cover of the 1949 Random House hardcover edition of Earth Abides. Cover illustration by H. Lawrence Hoffman.

H. Lawrence Hoffman illustrated the covers of the following books:

References
  1. Schreuders, Piet, Paperbacks, U.S.A., A Graphic History, 1939-1959, Blue Dolphin Enterprises, San Diego, 1981
  2. Judith Merril. "Amazon.com: Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time". Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  3. Gordon R. Dickinson. "Amazon.com: Alien Art". Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  4. Kyle Hunt. "Amazon.com: Kill My Love". Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  5. Elizabeth P. Heppner. "Amazon.com: Palace Under the Sea". Retrieved 2010-12-29.
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