SIGNED LIMITED PRINT "THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER (1/15 Signed By the Cover Artist) by Goodis, David (Maguire, Robert)

(Goodis, David. THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER) ROBERT MAGUIRE'S SIGNED LIMITED EDITION PRINT OF HIS COVER ART for this famous noir title originally published by Lion Books as a paperback original in 1954. Although the limitation was intended to be 400, in actuality only 15 were signed before Maguire's death in 2005 (this is #12). Image size: 13" by 19" but professionally framed and matted to a dimension of 18" by 24"; the print is in FINE condition, the frame has a few scratches here and there. Renowned Illustrator/painter/paperback cover artist Robert A. Maguire (1921-2005) created stunningly beautiful cover art for more than 600 books, working for virtually all of America’s mainstream publishers. Best known for his incomparably sexy femme fatale images ("The Maguire Girls") found on paperbacks in the 1950s and 1960s, Maguire built a legendary career among post-war paperback illustrators, showcasing character portraits that were both iconic and impactful, and painting subjects that were sensually compelling and emotionally powerful. And when it came to classic golden age crime noir American Good Girl Art, he (along with only fellow master Robert McGinnis) stood at the very top of the profession. Although Maguire illustrated the covers of novels and short stories for most of the best known writers of past and present, the images most often prized today are those he painted to illustrate crime noir authors such as Raymond Chandler, David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, John D. McDonald. Mickey Spillane, John Ross MacDonald. Erle Stanley Gardner, and James M. Cain among many others. In 2004, the year before he died, Maguire began a project to turn 40 of his most admired paperback art covers into a signed limited print series. These inkjet prints were originally intended to be part of a much bigger project; unfortunately the artist passed away shortly after the project was initiated and the project came to an abrupt halt. Most of those prints that were signed were sold at paperback book fairs and went immediately into collections. NOTE: As for David Goodis and the 1954 Lion paperback original THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER, both are worthy subjects of interest. Goodis (author of Dark Passage) was famously reclusive, died young, and is heavily collected. THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER is one of the hardest Goodis PBO titles to find in fine condition, we've only seen a handful over the many years we've been selling paperback rarities. . Signed. Near Fine. Illus. by Robert Maguire.