Amanda Zehnder
Editor(s)
David Brinley
Hardback
September 2025 • ISBN 978-1-64453-405-2 • $39.95
* E-Book Available
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Icons of the Fantastic: Illustrations of Imaginative Literature from The Korshak Collection features artwork by pioneering artists from over a century of published works of science fiction and fantasy. Erle Korshak, publisher of a groundbreaking science fiction book company, Shasta Publishers, ushered in the transition of important science fiction literature from magazines printed on cheap pulp paper to hardcover, library-quality books. The legacy of Shasta’s influence continues to this day through the Korshak Collection and in the work of countless authors, graphic designers, filmmakers, and others in the creative community who continue to draw inspiration from the stories and illustration art championed by the publishing company.
The collection is composed of European and American illustrators from the late-19th century through the late-20th century and includes some less well-known artists that are deserving of scholarly consideration and are being rediscovered by contemporary audiences. The adventure and fantasy illustrations in the collection appeared on the covers of timeless novels such as the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs and classic pulp magazines from the 1930s through 1960s, such as Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, and Wonder Stories. Featured art includes works for hardcover and paperback books by Robert E. Howard, and images of mischievous satyrs, ethereal mermaids, and spell-casting witches for texts ranging from The Tempest, Don Quixote, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to works by Edgar Allan Poe and H.G. Wells.
The catalogue represents and considers not only the captivating visual artwork in the collection, but also the philosophical approaches of the included artists to their work. It includes a preface by Neil Gaiman, an introduction by Michael Dirda, an interview with major illustration artist Michael Whelan, and seven essays by different authors, each focusing on one artist in the collection. Alongside essays about famous illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Aubrey Beardsley, additional essays engage in a critical reassessment of artists such as José Segrelles, Wladyslaw Benda, Margaret Brundage, and Hannes Bok, who have long been underrepresented in serious scholarship. Many interconnections of influence between artists within the collection are seen across the essays, such as the connections between Rackham and Edmund Dulac. Recurring themes include considerations of how autonomous an illustration artist can be from the text or author of the text being illustrated, and how illustrators maintain their unique point of view and artistic license while still representing the story or text of a book.
The Korshak Collection is a vision of the fantastic. It is one of great illustrators, as well as illustrations that have had a profound and ongoing impact on imaginative literature.
About the Editors
Amanda Zehnder is Chief Curator and Department Head of Museums at the University of Delaware.
David Brinley is Professor of Art and Design at the University of Delaware.
About the Contributors
Guillermo del Toro is is a renowned filmmaker, writer, and artist, who has directed over a dozen films and created numerous television shows, including The Strain (2014–2017) and Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022).
Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 190 books, fifty-eight of which have been national or international bestsellers.
Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a longtime book columnist for The Washington Post, and the author of the memoir An Open Book (2003), five collections of essays, and the critical appreciation On Conan Doyle (2012).
Stephen D. Korshak the owner, along with his wife Alma, of the Korshak Collection of Illustrations of Imaginative Literature.
Michael Whelan is one of the world’s premier painters of imaginative realism. For more than forty years, he has created book and album covers for authors and musicians like Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Brandon Sanderson, the Jacksons, and Meat Loaf.
Gary K. Wolfe is emeritus Professor of Humanities in Roosevelt University’s Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies.
Rachael Kane is the Learning and Engagement Manager at Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Ashley Rye-Kopec is the Curator of Education and Outreach at the University of Delaware Museums.
Margaret Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women’s Studies and Professor of Humanities at the University of Delaware.
Lauren Stump is the curator of the Korshak Collection.
Lisa Yaszek is Regents’ Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech.
