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.

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—the Moon

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mercury

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Venus

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Mars

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Jupiter

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell—Saturn

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.

Inside cover art by Chesley Bonestell

Interior art by Rolf Klep

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell

Interior art by Chelsey Bonestell

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell

Interior art by Fred Freeman

Interior art by Chesley Bonestell

Cover art by Jack Coggins (damaged), 1952 printing

Cover art by Jack Coggins, 1958 printing

Inside cover art by Jack Coggins

Title page art by Jack Coggins

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.