Chances are that if you own records from the 1970s, you probably have an example of the graphic design team known as Hipgnosis.

Formed in the late ’60s with the team of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, they were later joined by Peter Christopherson. In 1968, they were approached by Pink Floyd to design the cover for their second LP – A Saucerful of Secrets. They continued designing covers for the band for several years as well as providing artwork for several other artists including Led Zeppelin, The Pretty Things, Humble Pie, The Nice, Wishbone Ash, Genesis and a host of others.

I probably have dozens of albums with covers designed by Hipgnosis as well as two large format books featuring their work. However, I recently discovered an oddity by sheer accident.

I was perusing the selection of music books at Attic Books here in London, Ontario the other day and found a book that I had been wanting for some time. I am always on the lookout for books about British folk music and Folk Song in England by A.L. Lloyd was always on my wants list. Finally, there is was.

Originally published in 1967 by Lawrence and Wishart, this was a mass market paperback edition issued by Panther Arts in 1969. The cover illustration was created for this edition and did not copy the original release. It wasn’t until I got the book home that I noticed on the back the text, “Cover illustration by Hipgnosis“.

This seems to be a unique item in the history of Hipgnosis and I can find no mention of any other books that might feature their work on the cover.

An oddity, indeed.