Farley, Walter – UK Printings

Many of us will know the paperbacks of the Black Stallion series, which were published in various editions by Knight, starting in the 1970s. I still have the few that were printed with the lovely pictorial cover illustrations (mostly uncredited: The Island Stallion’s Fury is by S Hagsted, so I assume the others are too). I was so fond of these books I always read them with incredible care, and they have survived in a way I am quite proud of now. The later editions I think had less appealing covers, and included an edition using stills-from-the-film, and what I assume were specially posed photographs of the black Arab stallion Malabar Rex. The pictorial covers from the 1980s used illustrations by Fred Gambino.

I’ve added all the photos I have, but it’s entirely possible there are books out there I have not come across.

Knight early seventies: S Hagsted covers

Most of these illustrations aren’t credited. The Island Stallion’s Fury is by S Hagsted, whom I assume is the Danish illustrator Sigvard Hagsted. As far as I know, not all titles from the series were printed.

Knight photographic covers

This late 1970s edition (or at least the ones I have seen) mostly features photographs of the black Arab stallion Malabar Rex in a rectangular photograph. Some examples may be stills from the film. There is a picture of the Black Stallion rearing to the reverse of the cover, which is taken from the film.

The observant reader will notice some cunning re-usage of at least one of these editions in the next: Returns in this edition and Returns in the next have the same image, but reversed.

Knight Eighties

From the early 1980s, this Knight edition included stills from the film & pictorial versions. Most of the series was published in early 1980s (all the examples I have seen were published in 1982) with a black stallion logo to the rear, and an arched cover picture, which was either a still from the film, or a pictorial cover by David McAllister.

Knight Fred Gambino Covers

In the late 1980s, Knight issued the series with pictorial covers by Fred Gambino. He is a British artist, best known for his sci-fi illustrations.