CoverSnark:TheLastandBestArgumentforAmnesia

by SB Sarah Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 08:15 AM

Gemma sent us the following two covers. In the interest of politeness, I definitely said, “Thank you.” I would not say the same to the art department.

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Sarah: Dear Lover England: Apparently I must lie back and think of you, even though I am distracted by the tingling sensation in my womanly parts. Is that normal? Love, your darling Schnookums.

Candy: 65-year-old playboy Humbert England was ecstatic when he snagged what he thought was a nubile 22-year-old playmate...except he found out for himself the advanced state of elective surgery when he discovered not just cobwebs in a Certain Place, but spiders, too.

image

Sarah: That woman in the middle, Nurse Scratchet, is wondering why these two grinning nimbobs haven’t gotten the message. “The Rose and the Thorn?” The fire in their respective nether parts? What does she have to do, spell it out for them: “YOU PEOPLE HAVE VENERAL DISEASE!”

Candy: Why are there children sitting around a bonfire in these people’s crotches? Seriously. Kids. In people’s crotches. Not cool.

image

Sarah: “...and the name ‘Rosamund’ will be forever synonymous with mammoth breasts no puffy shirt can hide.”

image

No wonder the poor thing needs a walking stick. Holy shit.

Candy: Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge...tracts of land.

Sorry for going for the obvious joke, but it’s not as if those bodice puppies are especially subtle.

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Categories: Covers Gone Wild! (Non-Snoop Dogg Edition)

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Comments

Picture of Freezair said on...
01.24.08 at 08:38 AM |

Crossing my Internet wires, I think Yahtzee’s bosom people found their new bosom homeworld on cover 3. Good red-eye gravy on a chicken-fried steak!

Picture of Shannon Shannon said on...
01.24.08 at 09:04 AM |

Will anybody confess to having read Dear Lover England? Do the giant, black, hairy spiders play a pivotal role?

I think that’s the most bizarre cover I’ve ever seen. And it would have been hard to hold open without touching the spiders.

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.24.08 at 09:15 AM |

Well Dear Rosamund must also be a time traveller, since she is pictured with a Doberman, a breed that did not exist in any way, shape, or form in 16th Century England or Scotland (breed was developed in late 1800s).

Or perhaps it’s a Weimaraner, also not around during that time.

Need I mention that both of those breeds are German?

Picture of Trumystique said on...
01.24.08 at 09:19 AM |

Coming out of lurkdom again.

NO! NO! NO! Dont hate on the Rose and Thorn.

The Rose and The Thorn is one of the first romance novels I read and loved. I have dragged it around to every place I have lived. And I reread it a few years back to make sure it wasnt total crap despite nostalgic rememberings. It was okay though it had the evil ex girlfriend who kills puppies. Yes the cover is snark-worthy. I think the kids are there cause she is governess or maybe its cause she like kids or sumthing. Okay maybe I need to read this again to figure out what the bonfire is about.

Returning to lurkdom

Picture of Chicklet Chicklet said on...
01.24.08 at 09:38 AM |

Not only does The Rose and the Thorn feature crotch-adjacent bonfires and kids, it seems a random production of The Music Man has broken out behind the couple. Trouble with a capital T, which rhymes with P, and that stands for peen.

Picture of Bravewolf Bravewolf said on...
01.24.08 at 09:43 AM |

Robinjn, you beat me to it!  The first thing I thought when I saw this cover was, “a DOBERMAN?!”

Picture of --E --E said on...
01.24.08 at 09:44 AM |

I suspect Rosamund’s cover art was scaled unevenly (it can happen with today’s electronic mechanicals). Her face and hair look a little wide; even the dog’s face looks a little stretched.

Also, the proportions on the cover as shown in the entry are wider than a mass market cover. Which isn’t to say those aren’t some bodacious ta-tas, but the effect seems to be exaggerated by factors outside the original painting.

Picture of Shannon Shannon said on...
01.24.08 at 09:54 AM |

It’s probably meant to be a Greyhound, just drawn a little...beefy, like his mistress.

He’s looking over at the artist, wondering where his puffy shirt is.

Picture of Deb Deb said on...
01.24.08 at 09:59 AM |

I just can’t seem to get over the spiders.  BEcause, you know, *nothing* says romance like a bunch of hairy spiders running around while you’re in a clinch.

Picture of Teddy Pig Teddy Pig said on...
01.24.08 at 10:00 AM |

The Adventures of Doglass: Dog Of The Future!

In this chapter Doglass the Dog Of The Future! saves Rosamund from certain death caused by inadequate sprinklers in her 18th century mansion and then prescribes breast reduction surgery.

Picture of Jean said on...
01.24.08 at 10:06 AM |

It looks like a Weirmaraner to me.

Picture of SB Sarah said on...
01.24.08 at 10:08 AM |

Except for the very compact head, I thought it was a Vizsla, which is historically possible, except the coloring is off and I’m not sure if Rosamund and her Munds are Hungarian. But the skewed head shape could be incorrect aspect ratio in the image.

Picture of Claire said on...
01.24.08 at 10:10 AM |

Candy, you can always go for the obvious joke when the obvious involves Python goodness.

Always.

Picture of Angelina Angelina said on...
01.24.08 at 10:15 AM |

Arachnaphobia 2: A Big Hairy Mess. OMG, nothing gets me hotter than exoskeletons!

My first thought when I saw the second cover was, burning sensations? Thorns? Maybe it’s a UTI?

Can’t make fun of Rosamund because my granny would then hurt me, it’s one of her favorite books.

Hot Smoke, I have missed Cover Snark!

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.24.08 at 10:44 AM |

Except for the very compact head, I thought it was a Vizsla, which is historically possible, except the coloring is off and I’m not sure if Rosamund and her Munds are Hungarian. But the skewed head shape could be incorrect aspect ratio in the image.

Nope, no way a V, they’re bright red dogs with very different heads. And the head is wrong for a Weim. The closer I look I see markings--it’s a brown uncropped Doberman. With actually a lovely Doberman head (says the woman who has owned, bred, trained, and shown Dobermans for almost 25 years...).

I know, it’s the reincarnation of Baron von Munchausen, come to protect and save the world from Rosamund’s heaving bosoms.

Picture of Dragonette said on...
01.24.08 at 10:46 AM |

Hey!  I didn’t know Debra Messing did a romance cover!  Where’s Jack’s?

And… holy god that spider cover is creepy.  Aren’t the covers supposed to help sell the books?  I wouldn’t even pick it up, much less let it share a bedroom with me.  *shudder*

Picture of Tania HC said on...
01.24.08 at 10:49 AM |

Yay! Cover Snark!!

Spiders on a romance novel cover? WTF??

Oh, if you are so inclined, check out Think Geek’s Huge Tracts of Land shirt. I wear mine to bed. And sometimes out grocery shopping, late at night.

Picture of FrancisT FrancisT said on...
01.24.08 at 11:14 AM |

So were the large tracts an attemot cover artist on Rosamund to compensate for the name of the Author?

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.24.08 at 11:14 AM |

I have never seen a Dobermann in any colour but black-and-tan; I think it is that grey-brown effect that suggested a Weimaraner to people. It ought, as somebody said, to be a Greyhound; they have not changed all that much for a couple of millennia, and were dogs associated with the aristocracy. 
However, I am also unclear how anyone can tell, from the extraordinary costume, what historical period that scene is supposed to evoke.  Looks more like 1940s historical film-set than medieval Scotland to me.

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.24.08 at 11:21 AM |

Actually to be proper it probably should be a lurcher or a scottish deerhound.

Picture of Teddy Pig Teddy Pig said on...
01.24.08 at 11:27 AM |

Her name was Rosamund, she was a Lady
Though dressed up like a whore
as she wandered the Scottish Moors

Picture of Teddy Pig Teddy Pig said on...
01.24.08 at 11:28 AM |

Manilow don’t fail me now!

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.24.08 at 11:35 AM |

The Scottish Deerhound of today, in spite of its undoubtedly ancient origins, is a Victorian re-creation, so I doubt whether it would be easy to depict one that would be right for the date - 16th century, did someone say?  Good grief.  Mind you, a deerhound as painted by Landseer would be a lot more authentic than that mind-boggling costume!  ‘Lurcher’ is a pretty wide concept, especially where it overlaps with ‘greyhound’, so I wouldn’t disagree with that.
;)

Picture of Chad Saxelid Chad Saxelid said on...
01.24.08 at 11:49 AM |

I was wondering when I would find a romance novel that would reach across and caress my monster loving side.  Dear Lover England appears to be that book.  I swear that it looks like the spiders from Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond are skittering over for some serious genre-crossover face munching.

And nothing says romance like Hugh Hefner with an air filter wrapped around his neck about to smooch on his current blonde playmate of the month.

Picture of Becs said on...
01.24.08 at 11:53 AM |

Do giant spiders really attack the castle in the book?

Picture of Gemiwing said on...
01.24.08 at 11:56 AM |

I’ll have you know I was the inspiration for the Rosamund cover. And that is not a dog, its what we Scotts call A Wee Hamster. We actually have breeds bigger than that in the Highlands but we dinna like to brag.

mah wee code: heavy 15… and yes that’s per each.

Picture of Diana Castilleja Diana Castilleja said on...
01.24.08 at 12:04 PM |

I was on the phone when I read this-Teach me NOT to be doing that!

Huuuuge tracts of land indeed! Holy flipper!

Picture of Kalen Hughes Kalen Hughes said on...
01.24.08 at 12:06 PM |

No way is that a greyhound or a deerhound. Hello to Dobies of the Middle Ages. And WTF is that costume? Does the book take place at some kind of fantasy con, like Bimbos of the Death Sun? I mean, it looks vaguely like a Victoria riding habit worn without any undergarments and sans coat. Vaguely.

And best not to think too much about the spiders. It’s all a little Aragog for me.

Picture of Kalen Hughes Kalen Hughes said on...
01.24.08 at 12:07 PM |

Victorian

Damn-it-all

Victorian

Why can’t I type?

Picture of Krista said on...
01.24.08 at 12:32 PM |

So the spiders on that cover are driving me insane, I tried to find out what the book was aboud but could only find the back cover description:

Many Women Marry and Live in Torment . . . Or Do Not Live at All!”
An uncomfortable silence fell at the young queen’s pronouncement. Everyone knew what she was thinking. Her own mother, the bewitching Anne Boleyn, had paid for her love with death. Elizabeth was not about to meet a similar horrible fate. So while her courtiers buzzed with suggestions that she marry this prince or that king, the queen remained unmoved! For her heart had already been given to a very special lover, and to this lover she would dedicate her entire being . . .

So no mention of Giant Spiders, the book is from the late 70s which makes finding any kind of indepth review on it next to impossible for my Google Searching Abilities.

Picture of Chris Chris said on...
01.24.08 at 12:46 PM |

If that’s Debra Messing, then she had a very expensive boob job. Wowza!

Picture of Chris Chris said on...
01.24.08 at 12:49 PM |

Krista- So, that’s Queen Elizabeth? Might explain the spiders in her bloomers. She was the Virgin Queen...but the dress? The hair? WTF?

Picture of Krista said on...
01.24.08 at 01:03 PM |

Chris - Yep that’s Queen Elizabeth.

History was never really my forte in school, but I don’t recall giant spiders ever attacking…

Now I really can’t wait for the new season of The Tudors on Showtime, that show should be getting pretty interesting soon.

Picture of spinsterwitch spinsterwitch said on...
01.24.08 at 01:22 PM |

I have to say this is an STD triple feature.  First, crabs, then syphilus, then the woman being really pissed off over having caught one or both!

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.24.08 at 01:39 PM |

Something else about the “Dear Lover England” cover (other than the title which is just so bizarre; she’s being screwed by a country?)

Isn’t she really, um, antebellum? Unless I’m much mistaken they didn’t do off the shoulder pink ruffles in Elizabethan England. And speaking of time and place warp. Tarantulas? In England? In the 1500s? WTF is that? Maybe they time travel to some sort of Louisiana Bayou/Southwestern Desert.

Picture of Kiku said on...
01.24.08 at 01:43 PM |

Somehow, ‘Rosamund’ looks kind of like the female dwarves in my D&D 3.5 players’ guide (yes, I’m a nerd.)Square jaw, broad shoulders, breasts to raise the hammer of Thor himself . . . yeah.

Picture of Tina Anderson Tina Anderson said on...
01.24.08 at 01:51 PM |

I like how SMALL is right in line with that bulging pillow of chest-armor. 

And oh lord, did Katherine Hepburn pose for the cover of The Rose and Thorn?

As for the spiders...I got nothing.

Picture of Krista said on...
01.24.08 at 01:52 PM |

Robinjn - I can solve the crazy title part at least it seems to be from a poem by William Birch (from 1559) about Elizabeth I:

“Here is my hand, my dear lover England.
I am thine both with mind and heart
Forever to endure, thou may’st be sure,
Until death us two part.”

Sigh, I have too much time on my hands apparently.

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.24.08 at 01:55 PM |

Now if that title had been properly acknowledged, with a footnote…

Picture of Jennie Jennie said on...
01.24.08 at 01:56 PM |

I don’t know what’s worse—the horrible spiders on the cover, or poor Rosamund with the bad breast implants. 

I really hope someone can figure out what’s going on with the spiders—why are they on the cover?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Picture of Gemma Gemma said on...
01.24.08 at 01:57 PM |

I wonder if she’s in her nightie? The makeup and hair are less excusable in my opinion.

This tiny summary on abebooks indicates that it’s not Elizabeth herself that’s on the cover: “Intrigue, excitement, handsome courtiers, maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I ...” and another: “The deceptively fragile hand of Elizabeth I of England manipulate the destinies of everyone around her-including that of her beautiful but strangely tormented maid of honor.”

Which makes sense since this is a Harlequin Historical and should have a HEA or, in other words, wedding.

Picture of Krista said on...
01.24.08 at 02:02 PM |

Well that makes more sense Gemma, I was wondering how the author could write about Elizabeth herself and it still fall in the HEA category.

beautiful but strangely tormented maid of honor

Tormented by spiders perhaps?!?

Picture of kirsten saell kirsten saell said on...
01.24.08 at 02:04 PM |

And oh lord, did Katherine Hepburn pose for the cover of The Rose and Thorn?

Actually, I was thinking Captain Janeway.

Picture of Charlene said on...
01.24.08 at 02:13 PM |

Cover 1 is the most batshit insane thing I’ve ever seen. She’s Queen Elizabeth Peroxide O’Hara of the Anachronistic Mascara; he’s John O’Hurley in a 70s haircut and a Renaissance clown outfit. They seem to be living in a universe where the Spanish Armada has been replaced by giant man-eating tarantulas.

Is Pamela Bennetts a pseudonym for Terry Pratchett?

Picture of Charlene said on...
01.24.08 at 02:15 PM |

Yes, Kirsten, that’s it: Captain Janeway goes back in time to meet...Mikhail Baryshnikov in a bad blue suit?

Picture of --E --E said on...
01.24.08 at 02:40 PM |

My guess on the spiders is that someone slips some in a bed as part of an assassination attempt?

Yes, a lifetime of no-prizing has made me horribly logical when trying to explain the unexplainable. Personally, I much prefer the “giant spiders attacking the castle” interpretation! I’d pay ten bucks to see that movie.

Picture of Brandi Brandi said on...
01.24.08 at 03:06 PM |

I suspect Rosamund’s cover art was scaled unevenly (it can happen with today’s electronic mechanicals). Her face and hair look a little wide; even the dog’s face looks a little stretched.

You’re not the only one; both my husband and I were wondering about that, especially since the overall picture (if that’s supposed to be the entire cover) seems a bit squarer than any mass-market (or even trade) paperbacks on my shelves.

Picture of talpianna talpianna said on...
01.24.08 at 03:13 PM |

The Mole has solved the mystery of the spiders!  (or so she thinks)

Since the information provided indicates that the heroine is not the Queen but one of her ladies, I think it may be about Sir Walter Raleigh.  The Queen was never happy, and often vengeful, when one of her favorites married, especially without her leave:

In 1591, Raleigh was secretly married to Elizabeth ("Bess") Throckmorton (or Throgmorton). She was one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, eleven years his junior, and was pregnant at the time of their marriage. She gave birth to a son, believed to be named “Damerei”, who was given to a wet nurse at Durham House; the infant does not seem to have survived, and Bess resumed her duties. The following year, the unauthorized marriage was discovered and the Queen ordered Raleigh imprisoned and Bess dismissed from court. He was released from prison to divide the spoils from a captured Spanish ship, the Madre de Dios ("Mother of God").Wikipedia

Perhaps the spiders symbolize the imprisonment?  Although if one were well off, or had rich friends who would provide bribes, one could live quite comfortably in a sort of house-arrest situation in the Tower.

Picture of snarkhunter said on...
01.24.08 at 03:57 PM |

Mikhail Baryshnikov in a bad blue suit?

Nah, that’s totally Chakotay, sans tattoo.

In some kind of Holodeck fanfiction nightmare.

At least there’s no corn involved. (If anyone actually gets that joke, I’ll be ...well, either delighted or horrified. Semi-obscure ST:V fanfiction jokes FTW!)

And, ah, I’d just like to say that it has been at least 6 years since I went near an ST:V fanfiction site.

Picture of zabe zabe said on...
01.24.08 at 05:00 PM |

I will admit to having read Dear Lover England; unfortunately, it was twenty years ago and I no longer have a copy, though the abebooks summary helped me remember a bit. 

The heroine was a maid of honour; for some reason, someone was trying to drive her crazy or make people believe she was insane.  I think one incident did involve spiders, possibly in her bedroom; she ran from the room, and the spiders were gone when she returned with help.  Of course, the heroine is strangely attracted to the person she thinks is responsible. 

I think it was set well before the incident with Raleigh; the possibility of the queen marrying Robert Dudley was discussed, and his wife’s death (1560) was in the recent past. 

Those Harlequin Historicals all had appalling covers; The Rose and the Thorn makes me think of westerns, for some reason.

Picture of mercorir mercorir said on...
01.24.08 at 05:29 PM |

I must confess to a liking for the Rosamund cover - it may lack any historical oomph, which is regrettable, but on the upside the heroine looks like she has a spine. Any second now she’ll be smacking people with that stick, kicking ass and taking names.

The Rose and the Thorn, on the other hand - wtf is with the kids having a campfire around their crotches? 0.o

Picture of Jennie Jennie said on...
01.24.08 at 06:10 PM |

I took another look at the Rose & Thorn—the checkered tablecloth & wooden poles in back make it look like they’re in a barn—it’s like the holodeck program hiccuped & Janeway and Chacotay ended up in a Western, but he’s dressed like Gomez Adams & she looks like a schoolmarm.

Picture of MamaNice MamaNice said on...
01.24.08 at 06:26 PM |

My husband and I were laughing because Rosamund has my hair, exactly, and I said, “Too bad I don’t also have her big ol’ boobs.” (even preggers, mine aren’t nearly that impressive). Which prompted the spouse to wonder if “bigolboobs.com or would that be bigoleboobs.com?” was taken as a domain name. I didn’t have the guts (or the tits, as the case may be) to type that into my browser.

As for Rose/Thorn, a: that chick looks like Anne of Green Gables and b: now I can’t get that damn Poison song out of my head...(btw, I think Bret Michaels is wearing a wig, held in place by his everpresent bandanna...)

Personally, I think Pamela must have pissed someone off at her publishers, and they doodled those nasty spiders on to her cover art.

Picture of MamaNice MamaNice said on...
01.24.08 at 06:29 PM |

Brianna, you think Rosamund ever gets asked about her drapes and carpet?

Hell no - bitch would smack ‘em with boobybalance stick!

Picture of DS DS said on...
01.24.08 at 06:37 PM |

I’ve never read Dear Lover England but I did read a novel about the Borgias by Pamela Bennetts.  It was more historical than romance, it wasn’t very good and it was in hard cover.

Picture of Kes said on...
01.24.08 at 06:57 PM |

For Rose/Thorn, I’m channeling Bob Seeger:

“They all got one thing in common--
They got the fire down below!!”

(must. stop. looking. at. Rosamund’s. boobs.)
Word: seen61. Umm, 61DD’s, maybe?

Picture of Brianna said on...
01.24.08 at 08:35 PM |

MamaNice - I have a feeling that the questioner’s head would soon become very familiar with Rosie’s walking stick!

Picture of platedlizard said on...
01.24.08 at 09:32 PM |

MamaNice, http://www.bigolboobs.com gets ‘server not found’ the one time I tried it. http://www.bigoleboobs.com gets redirected to http://www.bigtitpatrol.com.

LOL @ the spiders. If I ever actually manage to improve my mad fiction writing skillz to the point that I can get a book published then I just MAY write a romance with a herione who breeds tarantulas for fun and profit. Actually, I know quite a few women who keep pet tarantulas and reptiles (for example, ME! *g*)

Rosamund definitely has a pet Doberman on the cover, with uncut ears. I actually have seen a few that were close to that color (there’s a cinnamon variation that I don’t know is kosher with the AKC, but does exist). AFAIK keeping their ears floppy is a fairly recent thing, though. I can see why the artist would have used undocked ears on a romance cover, it makes the dog look friendlier. A greyhound would have been a better choice, though.

Picture of platedlizard said on...
01.24.08 at 09:34 PM |

Um, don’t click on those last two links unless you want to go to a titty site. I didn’t think the board would have added the http:// to it. o.O

Picture of talpianna talpianna said on...
01.24.08 at 09:38 PM |
Picture of Riada said on...
01.24.08 at 09:45 PM |

As a former used bookseller, the spiders and castle show that ‘Dear lover England’ is a Gothic.  Just a little horror to liven up the sex…

Picture of platedlizard said on...
01.24.08 at 09:59 PM |

Nah, that dog is waaaay too small to be a deerhound. Deerhounds are HUGE, if it was a deerhound its shoulder would be where the dog that’s pictured head is.

Plus, the dog in the picture is smooth coated, and deerhounds (as well as their cousins, the Irish Wolfhounds) definitely aren’t.

Picture of talpianna talpianna said on...
01.24.08 at 10:23 PM |

I didn’t say it was a deerhound, I said it was a wannabe.

Picture of Charlene said on...
01.24.08 at 10:53 PM |

Rosamund is still abundant at the Amazon site, where you can see an unstretched image.

Picture of SusanL said on...
01.24.08 at 11:53 PM |

“Those Harlequin Historicals all had appalling covers; “

Ain’t it the truth.  If anybody can find the cover to Puritan Wife, it is truly snarkworthy.  I really liked that book, but the cover was Bad.  I remember the couple looked like they were playing dress up in clothes 3 or 4 sizes too big, and they had the longest faces.

Picture of MamaNice MamaNice said on...
01.25.08 at 04:25 AM |

Platedlizard - brava, brave soul...I still didn’t click, but I love the redirect address. Sounds like a site created by a trio of junior high boys.
Hmmm...bigtitpatrol...do you think they have uniforms or badges? Do they carry walkie talkies and use code?
Mayhap Fabio has been spotted by this patrol?

vfword: give27, yeah, I can give at least 27 reasons why I won’t click on that site!

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.25.08 at 04:57 AM |

“AFAIK keeping their ears floppy is a fairly recent thing, though.”

In the USA, yes. In the UK it is normal, and has been for more than 70 years.  The cropping of dogs’ ears has been illegal here since the 1930s, and I have never seen a Dobermann with cropped ears in the flesh.  Tail-docking, however, remained legal here till very recently, but is now under quite tight legal constraints.

Oddly enough, very extreme cropping of dogs’ ears was common in the 16th-19th centuries in Europe, so even if that animal on the cover is intended to be some kind of indeterminate hound, it might have been more accurate to have given him mutilated ears than natural ones.  They were not cut to a point and made to stand up, in the way that modern cropping of Great Danes, Boxers, Dobermanns and so on are done in the countries where it is still legal:  the medieval/early modern style was simply to excise most of the ear-flap.

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.25.08 at 05:44 AM |

Rosamund definitely has a pet Doberman on the cover, with uncut ears. I actually have seen a few that were close to that color (there’s a cinnamon variation that I don’t know is kosher with the AKC, but does exist).

Dobermans come in four allowed colors in the U.S. and the UK. Black, Brown (called red here but it’s really not, it’s brown), Blue (a dark steel blue) and Fawn/Isabella (a silvery beige). You can see all four colors at http://www.dpca.org/PublicEd/PEC/PECFourColors.html#

As for cropping, yes, it’s been illegal in the U.K for many years but was certainly not illegal in the 16th century. OTOH, the Dobe didn’t exist then either. Cropping is legal in many countries including the US, Canada, South America, etc. As food for thought--dogs with dropped ears are far more prone to ear infections than dogs with prick ears. When you see feral and wild dogs (and wolves, and coyotes) they ALL have prick ears. Dropped ears are just as much a man-made invention as cropped ones are…

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.25.08 at 06:08 AM |

Thanks very much for the information about Dobermann colours.  I have not known or even seen all that many of these dogs, and they were all black-and-tans; even my dog reference books, going back to the 1950s, only illustrate that colour.  I think I’d have a hard time identifying a red or isabella-coloured Dobermann with confidence, but they must be very handsome.

To say that pendant ears are ‘man-made’ is a slight exaggeration:  they are certainly one result of domestication, since, as you rightly say, all wild canids have erect ears.  But that does not mean that floppy ears were created or selected by humans.  Many physiological changes of domestication occur without direct human intervention, and one of these is neoteny - the retention of some juvenile characteristics into adulthood.  That may well be involved in the evolution of hanging ears.  Dogs with pendant ears are represented in Egyptian and Mesopotamian art of 3000 years ago and more - admittedly recent in terms of the time that Canis familiaris has been in existence - but still a fair period of time.  Incidentally, not all feral dogs, such as Middle Eastern pariah dogs, have erect ears; some have half-folded ears like those of greyhounds.  Only truly wild species, wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes etc. are invariably prick-eared.

In the same way, only the domestic dog amongst the canids has developed the tail form that curls up over the back (often seen in otherwise very wolf-like breeds), and that trait, too, has been around for millennia.  Changes like this do not need to have been deliberately selected by human action, as in modern breeding practice.  They can occur as natural sports and mutations, which then become fixed through natural breeding within limited genetic pools.

Picture of Robinjn said on...
01.25.08 at 06:29 AM |

Yes on drop ears being one of those things that just happened. However, we of course then exaggerated it into super long, heavy ears like the spaniel ear. And let me tell you, I wouldn’t trade my cropped ears for that for any amount of money. Constant ear care, constant battling of infections, lots of recurring pain for the dog. Thanks no!

Of course our cover Doberman, time-travelled from the future (along with those glorious boobs I suspect) probably has magically perfect ears.

Picture of SB Sarah said on...
01.25.08 at 06:34 AM |

We know the rules! Historical romance heroines never have thick leg hair, yeast infections, armpit hair (or odor for that matter), or even earwax.

Equally, historical romance heroine dogs do not ever suffer from earwax buildup, ear infections, hip dysplasia, or any of that nonsense.

Picture of SB Sarah said on...
01.25.08 at 06:35 AM |

And let me add, as the owner of a dog with perineal hernias, I’d love to go send poor Logan back in time so he can be dipped in the perfection that is historical romance land. Please!

It would spare him and me a lot of trips to the vet!

Picture of Jennifer Armintrout Jennifer Armintrout said on...
01.25.08 at 10:01 AM |

Guys, no time for love.  Giant tarantulas are attacking your castle.

Picture of Gemma Gemma said on...
01.25.08 at 11:35 AM |

Here’s the Puritan Wife cover.

You can see many of the earliest HH covers here (on my fan site!).

I am fairly terrified by spiders. I still haven’t got over that cover, so I had to share it with everyone to ensure maximum traumatisation.

Picture of Charlotte said on...
01.25.08 at 04:11 PM |

“Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” That explains the dog, right? Right.

Spiders. *shiver* As someone mentioned, you’d have to touch them as you were reading the book. I’d be more comfortable touching real spiders than touching crazy about to jump off the page and take over the world spiders.

Picture of Ehren Ehren said on...
01.26.08 at 12:05 AM |

well at least she’s stacked. That bodice would probably look the same or similar on me. Makes me feel better than there’s a romance novel cover woman that makes me feel small. So much for being a Valkyrie.

Picture of megalith megalith said on...
01.26.08 at 03:41 AM |

Dear Lover England:  Dear Lord, it’s mannikin sex! No wonder the spiders are running away. Both of them look like wax figures. Or dolls. It’s Barbie and Ken having sex in the Barbie Dream Castle, which is too big to leave in your room and gets stored away in the attic where the big scary spiders have colonized it. Mommy, mommy, spiders!

Rose + Thorn: I can see the brainstorming session now. It’ll be like Oklahoma! crossed with Upstairs, Downstairs...And we’ll throw in some band camp just to make things interesting!

Rosamund: You come near me I beatchu like a dog! I beatchu so hard you’ll spontaneously mutate like my dog. Then nobody know what breed you are!

Picture of megalith megalith said on...
01.26.08 at 03:49 AM |

...And not to be staring at the munds of Rosa or anything, but does it appear to anyone else that her right breastie is about twice the size of her left breastie? Maybe *that’s* what has her looking so grouchy.

Picture of Poison Ivy Poison Ivy said on...
01.26.08 at 05:19 AM |

What gives me pause at this space in time (I did read the HHs when they came out) is how completely asinine it was to put spiders on the cover of a book meant for women.

Guess they were thinking “These hairy spiders so beloved of women will lure more of them to buy this book.”

Right.

I think that we readers as usual just ignored the covers as much as possible in our desperate search for content. The books themselves weren’t bad, although they certainly weren’t memorable. They were YA in tone, as if they were not originally written for adult women. Which at the time was quite a contrast to the rape sagas and bimbo sagas (yes, actual bodice rippers) and other very adult content being published as historical romance. Like Bertrice Small, come to think of it. How ironic that they all end up on the same cover snark page.

Picture of AgTigress said on...
01.26.08 at 06:23 AM |

“Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” Well, to some degree, yes, but that wasn’t actually my point.  ;)
I was commenting that domestication is not simply the result of deliberate human action, in the way that (for example) modern pedigree breeding creates a particular type of animal.  Many of the differences between wild and domesticated animals of closely related species came about quite independently of human preferences and intentions.

Picture of Denni said on...
01.26.08 at 10:46 AM |

Spiders attacking the castle?  I tried to read that book, it was THE SWORD by Jean Johnson.  I could never touch a book with spiders on the cover (didn’t finish The Sword once the spiders appeared, yuck).

Trumystic...cover snarks are never to be mistaken for book reviews.  We all know authors almost never get to choose their own cover art.  Many fine books (esp. romances) have truely awful covers.

Mercorir..."smacking...kicking ass, and taking names”?  I haven’t read Beatrice Small in 20 years, but as I recall the only thing the heroine will be “taking” is cock from every villan in the book.

Picture of heather (errantdreams) heather (errantdreams) said on...
01.26.08 at 10:58 AM |

The thing that got me right off was seeing “Bertrice _Small_” next to those huge boobs. Ah the irony…

Picture of Realityhelix said on...
03.07.08 at 12:39 AM |

Seems like the only thing “small” about that woman is her head. Doesn’t it look small? Then again, compared to those chestie-pillows, anything would.

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