Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since 1996 ~ Over 4,000 Web Features in Archive
Volume 0880
Presents

1894~1969

Most of what is known about Mahlon Blaine is presented in the book, The Art of Mahlon Blaine (Peregrine 1982) by Gershon Legman with an introduction by Robert Arrington and bibliography by Roland Trenary. Even much of the biographical information in this book by Blaine's longtime friend is either questioned or countered  in the book's introduction by Robert Arrington.  Keeping this in mind, the following events in Blaine's life stand out: Mahlon Blaine was born in California in 1894. He served in World War I and Legman says that he had a metal plate in his head and shrapnel wounds on his wrist from injuries he suffered. He only had one eye the result of an accident "at an early age while chopping wood for his father."

He is supposed to have designed sets for Hollywood films in the twenties. He told Legman that he designed the 1925 film, The Thief of Bagdad, but Arrington says that his name doesn't appear in any of the published credits.  He also claimed to have worked on Howard Hawks' Scarface.

The earliest work listed in Roland Trenary's The Art of Mahlon Blaine bibliography is the rather erotic Girdle of Chastity that appeared in Paris in 1923. In 1926 he produced illustrations for Limehouse Nights - a collection of sordid tales centered around the Oriental community of London's Limehouse district, and a Howard Pease seafaring potboiler titled The Tattooed Man. The prestigious literary magazine, The Golden Book Magazine, featured Blaine art on a regular basis in 1930, often under covers by Artzybasheff, and even once as accompaniment to a poem by Lord Dunsany.

His stylistic black drawings, often highlighted and textured with crosshatches of pure white, were novel and unique. They added a visual texture to the books and magazine in which they appeared. Blaine was primarily self-taught as an artist (if we can believe him) and credited the "museums of the world" as his classrooms.

It was in William Beckford's Vathek (1928) followed by Hanns Ewers' Alraune (1929), and in his own Venus Sardonicus Portfolio (1929) that his more erotic side appeared. Blaine's women could be beautiful and sensuous, but they were most often satanic and dangerous. Lots of cloven-hooved women with sinuous tails in dominating situations made the portfolio as much a depiction of a psyche as of erotica.

As the Depression deepened, Blaine tried to return to the more commercial children's book market where he found little success. His work through much of the '30s, however, was work produced on demand for a variety of publishers and patrons. In 1941, using the pseudonym G. Christopher Hudson, he illustrated The Maniac. A Realist Study of Madness from the Maniac's Point of View - rather intriguing and often disturbing piece of work. At some point during the 1940s he is supposed to have moved to Arizona where he worked as art editor of  Arizona Highways magazine during the war years. For many years most of his work was done while living in dives and scrounging food and clothing from friends. Blaine lived in California during the late 1950s and returned to New York in the early 1960s where he produced the ERB Canaveral Press illustrations while living above the bookshop of the publishers. His bohemian lifestyle was such that no one really knows when he died but it was probably around 1970.

Blaine's work throughout his long career was prodigious and eclectic with published appearances in over 150 books and magazines. Sadly, he has received little acclaim among critics or collectors, probably because of the mildly erotic nature of some of his work, and much of his art has been lost.

Girdle of Chastity ~ Paris ~ 1923
Thief of Baghdad ~ 1925 ~ Film art
People Next Door by Georg Creel ~ John Day: 1926 ~ Cover design and title page
The Heart of Black Papua by Merlin Moore Taylor ~ McBride: 1926 ~ Endpapers
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana ~ Sears: 1927
The Jinx Ship by Howard Pease ~ Doubleday 1927 ~ Colour frontispiece, DJ, endpapers

Limehouse Nights by Thomas Burke (London: Richards, 1916; New York: McBride, 1917). A later printing, 1926, Limehouse Nights is illustrated by Mahlon Blaine (New York: McBride, 1926) and is the definitive edition for the sake of Blaine's artwork. Selections from Limehouse Nights were reissued are Broken Blossoms (Richards, 1920) and In Chinatown (Richards, 1921). Illustrations for this collection of sordid tales centered around the Oriental community of London's Limehouse district. Contents: The Chink & the Child ~ The Father of Yoto ~ Gracie Goodnight ~ The Paw ~ The Cue ~ Beryl, the Croucher & the Rest of England ~ The Sign of the Lamp ~ Tai Fu & Pansy Greers ~ The Bird ~ Gina of the Chinatown ~ The Knight-Errant ~ The Gorilla & the Girl ~ Ding-Dong-Dell ~ Old Joe

The Further Side of Silence by Sir Hugh Clifford ~ Doubleday: 1927 ~ adventure stories set in Malaysia and east Asia. Nineteen full-page illustrations, dust jacket, decorations. Bushwacking and other Asiatic Tales and Memories by Sir Hugh  Clifford ~  NY: Harper ~ 1929   The author was a Malayan Civil Servant & long time resident in Malaya. Recollections of the Pahang  Disturbances of Dec., 1890-Sept. 1891. The Expeditions into the Benighted Lands, July to Aug., 1894 & March to June 1895. 331 pages. 12 b.w. drawings and chapter headings. 8vo. Black 3/4 cloth spine over pictorial boards.

---

The Man Who Was Born Again by Paul Busson ~ John Day: 1927 ~ End papers by Mahlon Blaine
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Hanns Heinz Ewers ~ 1927
Cruise of the Cachalot by Frank T. Bullen ~ Sears 1927 ~ Six plates by Blaine
Authors and Others by A. Page Cooper ~ Doubleday: 1927 ~ Two full-page illustrations and 16 page Blaine bio.
John MacDonald Travels by John MacDonald ~ Harpers: 1927 ~ Dust Jacket
Trinc by H. Phelps Putnam ~ Doran: 1927 ~ Two art pages, cover label, title page.

---

St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks Vol LV Part I.November 1927 to April 1928 New York: Century Co, Bound in original red,black and gilt cloth. Contains "A Winter Sojourn In Iceland" by James Norman Hall illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. Blaine illustrations appeared in March, July, August, October, December 1928 ~ April, May 1929 ~ September 1930

Salammbo: A Story of Ancient Carthage by Gustave Flaubert ~ John Day. 1927 ~ 338pp.  Striking pictorial gilt and black cover design on red cloth by Blaine. 15 exotic b&w plates, a plethora of vignettes, and double-page EPs of a nude Salammbo. Classic work from the peak of his career, highly detailed. Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert ~ Tudor Publishing, New York, 1929/1931. Translated with an introduction by Ben Ray Redman. Illustrated with numerous suitably exotic drawings and decorations by Mahlon Blaine ("Lord! Eat!" "Never! Your desire is sacrilege") ~ . xxiv + 338pp. 8vo. Brown cloth with dec. spine & black-&-gilt woman-within-snake device on upper board. Pictorial eps. Frontis. Fore-edge untrimmed. Fourteen full-page b/w illustrations plus chapter headers & decorations.

The Living Buddha by Paul Morand ~ Holt: 1928 ~ DJ and one bookplate

Castles in Spain and other enchantments (1928) by Bertha Gunterman ~ Longmans: 1928 (McKay: 1968 reprint sans colour) ~ A collection of Spanish legends. Four colour art pages, headings, endpapers, cover.

Vathek by William Beckford ~ NY, John Day ~ 1928  229pp. Profusely illustrated with 100 Blaine illustrations in a decadent style, featuring sheiks, caliphs, devils, and sensuous women. The emergeance of Blaine's more erotic side. Blaine's women could be beautiful and sensuous, but they were most often satanic and dangerous. Lots of cloven-hooved women with sinuous tails in dominating situations made the portfolio as much a depiction of a psyche as of erotica. Originally published in 1786. Beckford was the subject of a well-known homosexual scandal in 1784. One of the richest men in England, he built one of the largest houses of the time (although the main tower, over three-hundred feet tall, collapsed twice). He also surrounded the estate with wall twenty feet high and eight miles in circumference, behind which all sorts of wicked things where suppose to have happened. The main character in Vathek is autobiographical and the character of young Prince Gulchenrouz, "the most delicate and lovely creature in the world," is modeled on Beckford's lover, William Courtenay. 1970 London edition is Young 222.

Black Majesty by John W. Vandercook ~ Literary Guild. 1928 ~ 207pp. Pictorial cover and six drawings in three-color, and dozens of chapter heads and vignettes, plus two-color EPs. Filled with strong, exotic images ~ Some of Blaine's most finished work. Black Majesty: The Life of Christophe, King of Haiti by John W. Vandercook ~  Harper & Brothers, New York, 1928 (5th printing). Fictional account of the life of Henry Christophe, one-time King of Haiti, who led the island to rebel against French rule. Illustrated in evocative style by Mahlon Blaine. x + 208pp. 8vo. Cloth spine with dec. papered boards. Colour frontis. Biblio. Five full-page colour illustrations plus b/w chapter decorations. Pictorial eps.

The Chief of the Herd by Dhan Copal Mukerji ~ E.P. Dutton ~ NY ~ 1926/1929 ~168pp. EPs and six b&w plates, plus 20 or so chapter heads, colour frontispiece. An epic novel of Indian elephants and their habits - told from the elephants' point of view. The Little Spotted Seal by Dhan Copal Mukerji ~ E.P. DuttonHarpers ~ NY ~ 1929 ~ Five art pages, endpapers, binding.

Alraune by Hans Heinz Ewers ~ Translated by GUY ENDORE the author of THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS ~ John Day:1929 (first appearance in English of a novel first published in German), limited to 3000 copies ~ Blaine illustrations : 12 pages, headings, cover, spine, endpapers ~ Part one of the Frank Braun trilogy.    "...When the pale night has fallen, then the basilisk comes slinking by. It is he who in a most curious fashion was fathered by the cold Moon, eternal spirit of infertility, and mothered by the arid sand herself, no less fertile than the Moon. He is the secret of the desert. Some say he is an animal, but that is not true. He is a thought and he grew up suddenly where there was neither earth nor seed. He is a thought sprung out of envious eternal infertility, and he must therefore take on a chaotic form, unknown to orderly life. And that is why no one can describe this creature, for he is as indescribable as nothingness itself...."    Sorceror's Apprentice by Hans Heinz Ewers John Day: 1927~ Part two of the Frank Braun trilogy. Lavishly illustrated by Mahlon Blaine: 5 full-pages, headings, cover, spine, end papers (Vampire is part three)

Hashish and Incense by Paul Verlaine ~ The Paul Verlaine Society: 1929. An edition limited to 500 copies. Seven b/w art pages by Mahlon Blaine. 112 pp. Hardcover. Large 8vo. Black cloth backed, green paper covered boards. Gilt strokes to boards, matching endpapers.

Book of Puka-Puka by Robert Dean Frisbie ~ Century: 1929 ~ Many illos
Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck ~ McBride: 1929 ~ Dust Jacket
Yama: The Pit by Alexandre Kuprin ~ Guerney: 1929 ~ DJ and spine art
Square-Rigged by Jack Calvin ~ Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1929. Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. Juvenile maritime adventure by the author of 'Fisherman 28', 'Sitka' and 'Between Pacific Tides'. viii + 334pp. 8vo. Cloth, pictorial on upper board. Colour frontis. Pictorial eps. Four full-page b/w illustrations.

Fisherman 28 by Jack Calvin ~ Little, Brown, Boston, 1930 ~ with illustrations by Mahlon Blaine ~ 325 p. : ill. (1 col.), maps  21 cm. Maps on lining-papers ~ Alaska salmon trade - Juvenile fiction ~ Colour frontispiece and four b/w full pages.

Venus Sardonicus Portfolio by Mahlon Blaine ~ 1929 ~ Reissued in 1938 ~ Portfolio of 50 drawings
Colours by Remy de Gourmont ~ Blue Faun: 1929 ~ Cover

---

The Fools' Parade by John W. Vandercook ~ Harper & Brothers, New York, 1930. First edition. Six stories set in Africa. Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. x + 270pp. 8vo. Cloth spine with papered boards. Six full-page b/w illustrations plus b/w chapter headers & initial letters. Pictorial eps.

The Temptation of Saint Antony by Gustave Flaubert ~ 1930 ~ New York: Williams Belasco & Myers, 1930 (A later Halcyon House reprint). A classic fantasy novel, an influence on Anatole France & many other fantasists. The illustrations are sadistic, decadent, & delightful, by one of the finest of all weird illustratators, Mahlon Blaine. Six art pages, DJ, cover.

Grip of Desire by Hector France ~ Alpha 1930 ~ 10 art pages, binding and endpapers
Odalisque by Voltaire ~ Limited Edition: 1930 ~ Three art pages

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy by Laurence Sterne ~ Illustrated Editions Company / Williams, Belasco & Meyers, New York, 1930. Sterne's classic novel with typically bawdy illustrations by Mahlon Blaine. 192pp. 8vo. Dec. fawn cloth spine with textured blue cloth boards with gilt-&-red naked devil-woman device on upper board. B/w frontis. Four full-page b/w illustrations.

Candide or Optimism by Voltaire ~ Concord Books, New York, 1930. Voltaire's classic picaresque tale illustrated in inimitable erotic style by Mahlon Blaine. Additional chapter end decorations by Arthur Zaidenberg. 144pp. 8vo. Gilt-dec. cloth. Frontis. Five full-page b/w illustrations plus numerous b/w decorations.  http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0880b.html

The Golden Book Magazine ~ Dec. 1929 ~ Jan., Feb., Mar. May, June, Oct. Nov. 1930 ~ A prestigious literary magazine, featured Blaine art on a regular basis, often under covers by Artzybasheff, and even once as accompaniment to a poem by Lord Dunsany. The Golden Book (1/30) "Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterton

Forty Stay In by John W. Vandercook ~ Harpers: 1930 ~ Endpapers

Thirteen Men by Tiffany Thayer ~ Claude Kendall: 1930 (G&D reprint) ~ Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine.  A children's book. 15 art pages, DJ, cover, endpapers, chapter heads.

She: A Novel of Innocence Awakened by Robert Couste ~ River Publishing NY: 1935

---

Ocean Parade by F. Michelson and L. Byrne ~ Dust Jacket and endpapers
The Memoirs of Josephine Mutzenbacher by Felix Salten ~  Translated by Rudolph Schleifer [Hilary E. Holt]. Introduction by Hilary E. Holt, Ph.D. 1967. pp. 304. $1.25. Cover art by Félicien Rops. – The first English version of this famous ‘naturalistic’ novel concerning a Viennese prostitute. The German original was first published in a private edition in 1906. The ascription of the authorship to Felix Salten, better known for his childrens’ novel Bambi, seems fairly well established.  An earlier translation, with illustrations by Mahlon Blaine, was published at ‘Paris’ [New York] in 1931 by either Jake Brussel or Sam Roth.
Memoirs of a Coxcomb by John Cleland ~  Four full-page illos by Mahlon Blaine. Privately Printed. (New York): Planet Press, 1931. 8vo, 273pp. Purple cloth, ruled borders.
To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck ~ New York: Robert 0. Ballou,  1933 Pale green cloth, gilt-lettered spine, pictorial endpapers, top edge stained black, jacket, later custom morocco-backed slipcase, gilt.  Jacket & endpapers by Mahlon Blaine.

---

Here Comes Somebody by Ben Hur Lampman ~ Metropolitan: 1935 ~ Cover art and 13 energetic and complex full page plates and charming chapter heads done for the children's book market.

Justine or the Misfortunes of Virtue by Marquis de Sade ~ The Risus Press, New York, 1935. With uncredited illustrations by Mahlon Blaine; the text inspired Blaine to produce some typically erotic illustrations, one for each of the 27 chapter headings. With an introduction by the editor Iwan Bloch, M.D.; a small publisher's note at the end of the text (possibly tongue-in-cheek) states that the editor "highly disapproves of most of the characters in this novel; and in no way can he identify himself with their words or actions". The text of this edition appears to be a somewhat expurgated version. xii + 208pp. Grey cloth with red-stamped silhouettes of female head on spine & man & woman on upper board. Top-edge red.   http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0880a.html

Here Comes Somebody by Ben Hur Lampman; Metropolitan. 1935 ~ 275pp. 12 plates, 21 chapter headings and initials, and many other vignettes, all in b&w, plus unusual illustrated EPs. Excellent work from Blaine's prime period, highly detailed.

Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor by Laurence Housman ~ Illustrated Editions Co.: 1936 ~ Eight double pages of art, frontispiece, chapter headings.
Padlocks and Girdles of Chastity ~ 1937

Nova Venus ~ Mahlon Blaine limited edition (300) art folio published by Jake Brussel in 1938 ~ Includes art such as: "And Evil" with a nude woman and a leopard-skinned demon, outstanding examples of his famous horned, tailed, and hoofed women, gaze down into a valley from a cliff top ~ "Groves Gave Way to Marketplaces" An enormous gargoyle looming above a complex scene of a charioteer and his steed passing by several merchants under an awning, with a city wall in the background. 42 pages.

Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt translated by Arthur Machen ~ Regency House: 1938 ~ 8 volumes
Fanny Hill by John Cleland ~ Walden: 1938 ~ 28 small drawings and spine

Satanism and Witchcraft by Jules Michelet ~ Walden:1939 ~ One of many erotic projects worked on. The pseudonmy G. Christopher Hudson was used. Hermaphrodite in Silks, Miss High Heels ~ 194x ~ illustrated by Mahlon Blaine

Girl Beautiful: A Comprehensive Collection of Art Studies. Chicago: Graphic Arts Press, 1940. Sm oblong 4to, unpaginated, profusely photo-illust. in b&w throughout. Blue cloth, gilt lettered. Volumes 2-12 of Girl Beautiful, the controversial quarterly "Album of Artistic Feminine Poses for Art Students, Amateur & Professional Photographers," feature over 500 nude art models bound by the publisher in this special hardcover gold-stamped edition. Very sensitive material for its time, an advertisement found at the rear of one issue touts the volume under notice available via mail-order if you are "being over 21 years of age and having an academic interest in Art." The cover and titlepage illustration (uncredited) by Mahlon Blaine.

The Maniac. A Realist Study of Madness from the Maniac's Point of View ~ under the pseudonym G. Christopher Hudson ~ 1941

My Uncle Benjamin by Claude Tiller ~ Coventry House: 1941 ~ 14 art pages, DJ, cover, colour autographed frontispiece.
500 Years of Art in Illustration by Howard Simon ~ World: 1947
An Omnibus of Passionate Women by Boccaccio and Mendes ~ Boar's Head 1949 ~ A two-colour dust jacket

Books of similar sexual content from the same publisher, each with 10 halftone illustrations:  (1950s)
Tearful Passage ~ Pals of Pain ~ Mr. Bottomley Goes to Town ~ Whipping Pirouettes ~ The Circus Lasher ~ The Pain Clinic

Le Meneur de loups by Cadot, 1857, translation by A. Allinson ~ published as The Wolf-Leader, Methuen, 1904, reissued with illustrations by Mahlon Blaine, Prime Press, 1950.
Allinson by L. Sprague De Camp ~ Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine ~  Philadelphia: Prime Press. 1950. Original black cloth titled in silver on spine panel. 8 full-page black & white plates, plus numerous chapter head and tail-pieces, decorated endpapers, and dust wrapper design, all by Blaine. Weird novel of lycanthropy set in 18th Century france, with an introduction by De Camp.
Wolf Leader ~ Prime Press: 1951 ~ Eight full pages, chapter headings, DJ, end papers
Eastern Love Stories ~ Shakespeare House: 1951 ~ One plate
Dunninger's Magic Tricks ~ Commissioned by patron Joseph Dunninger ~ 1951
Whip Some More My Lady by Gibbon Goot ~ Sam Roth, NYC ~ 1953 ~ Illustrations by Mahlon Blaine ~
16mo, (90)pp, 5 full page illust., misc. headpieces by Mahlon Blaine. Printed wrappers ~ A flagellation novel not without merit, apparently a reissue sans original title page of a faux Olympia Press title.

American Aphrodite Magazine ~ 1953 & 1954 ~ Nos. 9, 10, 13, 15, 16
Loves of the Orient by Giovanni Comisso~ Bridgehead: 1954 ~ Frontispiece and 26 chapter heads.
Education of a French Model by "Kiki" ~ Bridgehead: 1954 ~ 50 drawings
Woman and Her Slave ~ 1955 ~ Eight art pages and cover
Daphnis and Chloe ~ Picadilly Books: 1955
The Nude in the French Theatre ~ Picadilly Books: 1955
Days to Be Remembered by C. Ravache ~ Vera Press/Whip-Club, Early '50s, 16mo, (90)pp, 5 full page illust., misc. headpieces by Mahlon Blaine. Printed wrappers
Facetiae Frankliniana ~ 20 sketches and cover
Blind Lust by Maurice Gauthier ~ Francois Press ~ Seven art pages from the Venus Sardonica portfolio
Strange Tales by Hans Heinz Ewers, Runa-Raven Press, Smithville TX, 2000, 153pp, frontis portrait, wraps.
Foreword by Don Webb and extensive biography by Stephen E. Flowers. The American editions of his books from the NY publisher John Day are illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. The biography here notes that Ewers, who believed his mother to be a witch, was apparently fascinated with evil, and met both Adolf Hitler and Aleister Crowley. The height of his popularity was in Berlin in 1913, when he had not only bestseller books in the stores, but a successful film as well, and two successful stage plays. He later was part of what might be called the Weird Wing of the Nazi Party, even though he was not anti-Semitic and in fact helped some Jews escape Germany. These tales are more in the line of madness and horror rather than overt fantasy. The only evidence of  Blaine artwork in this edition is a flower in the distinctive Mahlon Blaine style which decorates the cover of the book.

The Memoirs of Cora Pearl: the Erotic Reminiscences of a Flamboyant 19th Century Courtesan edited by William Blatchford ~ Granada

---

Edgar Rice Burroughs Canaveral Press ~ 1962 ~ Seven titles, each with a dust jacket and seven interior illustrations by Mahlon Blaine ~ His last commissioned work.

---

The Moon Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs ~  Canaveral Press, 1962.  Reissue of the original text pubished as The Moon Maid, published in 1926 by McClurg & Co. This edition includes the interior illustrations by and fantastical dustjacket art by Mahlon Blaine.
A Fighting Man of Mars
The Land That Time Forgot
Monster Men
At the Earth's Core
Pellucidar
Tanar of Pellucidar

Ropati Frisbie - South Sea Trader: An historical account of Robert Dean Frisbie written by A. Grove Day, University of Hawaii related to "The Book of Puka-Puka. A lone trader on a South Sea atoll." by Robert Dean Frisbie ~ Woodcut-style illustrations by Mahlon Blaine.

---

Venus in Chains by H.F. Jamison ~ Bridgehead: 1964 ~ Frontispiece
Fantasy Collector's Annual ~ De La Ree: 1974 ~ 10 pages of art with one page Blaine bio
How to Identify and Collect American First Editions by Jack Tannen ~ Arco: 1976 ~ Dust Jacket

---

Normal Bean Magazine by Roland Trenary ~ 1978 ~ 7 issues devoted to Blaine, ERB and Jose Philip Farmer (contain Blaine art and biblio information) "The Stone God Awakens" ~ Jose Philip Farmer illustrated in Blaine's style "The Resurrection of Jimber Jaw" by Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ illustrated in Blaine's style

---

Art of the Fantastic by Gerry de la Ree (ed.) ~ De La Ree: 1978 ~ Three full-page drawings

---

The Art of Mahlon Blaine by Gershon Legman with an introduction by Robert Arrington and bibliography by Roland Trenary. (Peregrine 1982). Lansing, MI: Peregrine, 1982. 1st. 4°, 26pp and a portfolio of 8 color plates & over 70 ills., cloth.  Hardbound edition limited to 125 copies with 25 copies signed by the contributors.

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon by Barbara Hodgson ~ Chronicle, 1999 ~ Includes work by N.C. Wyeth, Gustave Doré and Mahlon Blaine.

REFERENCE LINKS