Lady Chatterley’s Chopped Liver [ MAD Magazine Book Cover ]
$80
Out of stock
Description
Scarce MAD Magazine Adhesive Book Cover Lady Chatterley’s Chopped Liver
Lady Chatterley’s Chopped Liver And Other Recipes. MAD Magazine , New York. c. 1960-3. [ Confidential Secretary by Harriet Carr, Berkley Publishing Corporation, New York, 1961. ]
Lady Chatterley’s Chopped Liver is not a book, but one of a series of fake book covers printed and distributed by MAD Magazine in the early 1960s. Effectively a large sticker, this adhesive vinyl wrap was distributed as a peel-able insert inside issues and was designed to mask other paperbacks.
The choice to parody DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was very of the moment on the part of MAD Magazine. Although originally published in 1928, the novel remained banned in the United States until July 1959 when the US court of appeals ordered the return of a new American edition printed by Grove Press. This landmark obscenity trial in the US Court of Appeals resulted in the often quoted decision, by Judge Frederick van Pelt Bryan:
…If a work is found to be of literary stature, and not ‘hard core’ pornography, it is a fortiori within the protections of the First Amendment
Considering the connotations a casual observer at the time would have had to the name “Lady Chatterley”, it was a perfect choice on MAD’s part, making otherwise “boring” books appear humorous or risque.
Adhesive book cover, some creasing with losses and wear. Affixed to Confidential Secretary by Harriet Carr, Berkley Publishing Corporation, New York, 1961. 8vo, 176pp, printed wraps (covered) with red dyed bookblock. Shelfcocked, back warp creased. Pages toned. Margin tear with fold page 176. Good condition.
If you liked this book, you might also like this original promotional pamphlet from the infamous Dr. Kahn’s Museum of Anatomy.
