Founded in Paris by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton in 1953, The Paris Review began with a simple editorial mission: “Dear reader,” William Styron wrote in a letter in the inaugural issue, “The Paris Review hopes to emphasize creative work—fiction and poetry—not to the exclusion of criticism, but with the aim in mind of merely removing criticism from the dominating place it holds in most literary magazines and putting it pretty much where it belongs, i.e., somewhere near the back of the book. I think The Paris Review should welcome these people into its pages: the good writers and good poets, the non-drumbeaters and non-axe-grinders. So long as they’re good.”
My fascination with the magazine has always been from an art direction point-of-view. Whilst some issues have been hit-or-miss, The Paris Review has had some fantastic cover art over the years and even of recent years, the new logo and the layout is the work of the late William Pène du Bois who worked on the magazine from 1953 to 1960. The current logo, designed by du Bois, has both American and French significance: an American eagle holding a pen and wearing a Phrygian cap, a symbol of revolutionary France.
In all it’s time The Paris Review has only had four editors, the most recent editor in office since only last April. Wonderful work.
You can find out a little more at www.theparisreview.org
The Paris Review. A look back at past designs… http://t.co/CSQrcen #graphic