Michael Whelan. A Spell for Chameleon. paperback cover, 1977 Piers Anthony Xanth #1
Artist: Michael Whelan (Painter)
19 Comments - 5,161 Views - 10 Likes
Artwork Details
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DescriptionMICHAEL WHELAN. A Spell for Chameleon, paperback cover, 1977 Piers Anthony Xanth #1. Acrylic on board.My Grail piece. The first 'grown up' book I ever read, chosen primarily due to the cover art. I can barely remember it. I must have been in my early teens or maybe 11. It must have been summer, since otherwise I could have gone to the school library which had a far greater selection than the town library. I'd read everything I considered 'good' out of the kids section in the town library (excepting the Nancy Drew's and other 'girl' stuff :) and I needed a book to read. I was searching the bookcase in the hallway for something I hadn't read, and ended up with 2 possibles, Spell for Chameleon or a Rex Stout omnibus. The Rex Stout had a cover with some poker cards and wasn't that interesting. My mom was a big mystery fan, so that must have been her Stout, but no one else was a fantasy fan, there's no good explanation for Spell being there. This book solidified my fascination with fantasy and sf which I've followed all my life. I used to re-read this every summer as a teenager. When the next book in the series came out, I'd start with Spell and re-read them all up to the new one. It went for 4x the estimate, and ended up the 3rd highest Whelan sold on HA, but... I figured I'd never have another chance at it, and convinced myself it was _an investment_ so... ;) Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Earl Hamilton
Member Since 2009
Posted on 10/6/2015
Ahhh I remember this book well. What a great find and a great trip down memory lane for me. Thanks for posting :)
Matt S
Member Since 2006
Posted on 10/6/2015
Gorgeous stuff... an indication as to why Michael has been a star illustrator for so long.
Jared Simmons 
Member Since 2004
Posted on 10/6/2015
Fantastic art. Loved the book too. Congratulations!
Tim F
Member Since 2005
Posted on 10/6/2015
Awesome. Not surprised it went for that much given classic Whelan + classic book.
Mark Geier
Member Since 2013
Posted on 10/6/2015
Great find! I remember picking up this book as well based on the cover.
Bill Cox
Member Since 2003
CAF Administrator
Posted on 10/6/2015
Thanks for sharing! One of my all time favorite series of books.
David Mandel
Member Since 2004
Posted on 10/6/2015
You paid a lot but who cares! Fabulous cover to a fantastic memory. No idea if this book is really any good, but at the time, I thought it was genius
Suat Tong Ng
Member Since 2009
Posted on 10/6/2015
What David said. One of Whelan's most famous covers and it was a small price to pay for the good memories.
Lee Benaka
Member Since 2004
Posted on 10/7/2015
Count me in as part of the many fans of these books when they came out in the late 1970s. It is great to see the auction painting. Very nice! Congrats!
Kirk Dilbeck (3-Wishes and Patron-of-art)
Member Since 2006
Posted on 2/24/2016
Great piece of fantasy history and worth every penny you paid. Congrats!!
steve staszower
Member Since 2005
Posted on 1/1/2020
Whoa!! I remember seeing that cover as a kid in the the late 70's or early 90's and beingblown away. Glad you found your grail.
Will L.
Member Since 2012
Posted on 11/5/2021
Really iconic and amazing piece !! I'll never forget when I grabbed a copy at the book store many years ago.
Arrick Un Rama
Member Since 2020
Posted on 11/5/2024
Awesome, you can't beat this one. A true grail piece.
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