Bright Weavings: The Worlds of Guy Gavriel Kay – Fionavar Tapestry Cover Art
The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy has been published in many countries. I assume that most people viewing this gallery know the trilogy, but for those who don’t, it consists of:
Book 1: The Summer Tree (1st ed. 1984)
Book 2: The Wandering Fire (1st ed. 1986)
Book 3: The Darkest Road (1st ed. 1986)
I present here covers that display original artwork or interesting adaptations. Many other editions used the same artwork as English language editions; I’m not going to copy them all here. This page is going to be heavy enough to download as it is! Click on a cover to see a larger image, except where instructed otherwise.
Canadian & worldwide
1st ed. of The Summer Tree.
Artist: Martin Springett
Pub: McClelland & Stewart American hardback editions. Artist: Martin Springett. Publishers: Arbor House/William Morrow. This is the same format that was used for The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road in Canada by HarperCollins
Martin Springett’s covers were also used as full wrap images on the UK hardback editions of The Fionavar Tapestry. For an even closer look at these beautiful designs, visit ‘Images of Fionavar’ where Martin’s posters of these designs are displayed. They are also available to buy.
American softbacks, published by Roc. Artist: Mel Odom
Click here for larger images
UK paperback editions. This was the first major rejacketing of The Tapestry. Artist: John Howe. Publishers: Harper Collins/Voyager (England)
Omnibus Edition of The Fionavar Tapestry, only available in Canada. Artist: Ted Nasmith.
Pub: HarperCollins Canada
Dutch edition of The Fionavar Tapestry.
Artist: Annemarie Barendregt.
Pub: Sirius en Siderius
Click here for larger images
French edition, Pygmalion trade paperback. (The same covers were used for the Sextant version in Quebec).
Books 1 and 2, Artist: Jacques Lamontagne.
Book 3, Artist: Ted Nasmith
Danish edition of the Tapestry.
Artist: Ole Pihl. Pub: Forlaget Per Kofod
Polish edition of the Tapestry. The covers for books 2 and 3 are John Howe’s from the UK paperback editions (for larger images of these covers see the UK edition). Perhaps that’s in reaction to the, er, interesting cover of The Summer Tree (which -can- be clicked on for a larger image). The only redhead in Fionavar is Jaelle – one can only imagine the righteous fury she would display if she saw this display!
Artist: unknown; being researched. Pub: Zysk I S-Ka
Italian edition of the Tapestry. Artist: O.C. Berni
Pub: Sperling & Kupfer
Israeli edition of The Summer Tree (published Feb 2000). This is the John Howe UK cover picture, but I added it to the gallery for the Hebrew script. Note that Hebrew is read from right to left, which also explains the full wrap cover with the front cover on the left, not the right.
Pub: Opus Press
German reprint edition of the Tapestry (Martin Springett’s covers were used for the first edition).
Artist: Ferenc Regos. Pub: Goldmann Verlag
U.S. trade paperback reprint edition of The Fionavar Tapestry
To be published from April 2001. Click on a cover to see a larger image.
Artists: Janny Wurts and Don Maitz. Pub: Roc
READ THE ARTISTS’ PRESS RELEASE
Visit Janny Wurts & Don Maitz’s websites
There is a Janny/Don artwork screensaver available to buy from Second Nature Software for $10.99,
which includes the painting these covers are based on. The company contributes 100% of all profits
after taxes to The Nature Conservancy.Janny and Don have put up a graphic of the complete painting that the three covers are taken from on
their website, as well as some graphics of the work in progress; how it developed in stages. Worth
taking a look at: http://www.paravia.com/Janny_Don/index2.html
Click here for larger images
Russian edition of the Tapestry.
Artist: Anatoly Dubovik
Publisher: Eksmo
New French editions of the Tapestry.
Artist: Emmanuel Civiello
Publisher: J’ai Lu
Canadian Reissue – 2004 20th Anniversary Edition.
Click on the covers to see full wrap versions
Artist: Martin Springett/Andrew Patton
Publisher: Harper Collins Canada The cover for the Russian omnibus edition of The Fionavar Tapestry
Artist: ?
Publisher: Sekatchev
French bookclub editions. Artist: Sandrine Gestin, publishers: France Loisirs. (Don’t have larger images, sorry!) The cover for the Danish omnibus edition of The Fionavar Tapestry
Artist: ?
Publisher: Per Kofod
UK Reissue of The Fionavar Tapestry, 2006
Artist: Martin Springett
Publisher: Voyager Croation editon of The Fionavar Tapestry
Publisher: Algoritam
Artist: Igor Kordej 2012 Canadian edition of The Fionavar Tapestry
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Artist: Janny Wurts & Don Maitz