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Science Fiction/Science Fact

Some books mix science fiction with science fact, whether purposefully, in trying to explain or demonstrate conventions of the SF genre, or simply by their placement in time.

Either is enjoyable, but I find art on the very cusp of science fiction, when painters were looking into the future with as realistic an eye as possible, to be particularly charming.  Ah, the joy of Chesley Bonestell visions of space flight that seemed perhaps only a decade or two away, for example, and the patient detail of Fred Freeman’s meticulous, draftsman-like illustrations!  Those books that depict the unabashedly science-fictional art of the past can be most pleasant as well.

This page, therefore, showcases both types of works.
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—the Moon
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—the Moon
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mercury
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Venus
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mars
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mars
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mars
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mars
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Jupiter
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Saturn
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Saturn
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Saturn
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—double-star Mira
I picked up Across the Space Frontier around 20 years ago at an antique joint that unforunately no longer exists.  If I recall, the book was $5—an incredible steal for an original 1952 classic, even when lacking the dust jacket.
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Inside cover art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Rolf Klep
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Chelsey Bonestell
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Fred Freeman
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Cover art by Jack Coggins (damaged), 1952 printing
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Cover art by Jack Coggins, 1958 printing
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Inside cover art by Jack Coggins
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Title page art by Jack Coggins
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Interior art by Jack Coggins
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Interior art by Jack Coggins
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Interior art by Jack Coggins
OK, I cheated a little by including this one, because Collier's magazine of course is not a book.  Ah, but it sure is big, and it sure is illustrated—by Chesley Bonestell and Fred Freeman, no less.  This is from the third and last article of a 1953 series on the coming exploration of space.  Notice, by the way, the use of the Von Braun-designed rocket also seen in Across the Space Frontier.
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Cover art by Fred Freeman
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Fred Freeman
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Interior art by Fred Freeman
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Interior art by Fred Freeman
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Cover art by Vincent Di Fate
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Back cover by Vincent Di Fate
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Interior art by Vincent Di Fate
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Interior art by Vincent Di Fate
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Interior art by Vincent Di Fate
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Cover art by Chris Foss
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Back cover by Chris Foss
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Interior art by Frank R. Paul
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Interior art by Peter Jones
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Interior art by Tony Roberts
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Cover art by Chris Foss
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Back cover by Chris Foss
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Percival Lowell at his telescope...
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...and what he believed he saw.
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Cover art by Frank R. Paul
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Title page art by Gustav Dore
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Interior art by Camille Flammarion
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Interior art by Fred Freeman
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Interior art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Chelsey Bonestell
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Cover art by Peter Elson
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Interior Art by Chesley Bonestell
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Interior art by Lucien Rudaux
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Interior art by Jack Coggins (upper left) and R.A. Smith (right)
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Interior art by John Berkey
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Cover art by Frank Frazetta

Big Illustrated Books
Flights of Fancy
The History of SF
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