Email comments, corrections, additions to Gemma
Compare with trends in Mills & Boon Historical cover designs.
| First HH Series (1977-1982) | Second HH Series (1986-1987) |
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| The first fifteen books were released every three or four months and were branded Harlequin Historical (up to October '78). When they became monthly (from May '79) the brand was changed to Masquerade Historical. The cover design is otherwise unchanged. Images tend toward montages. The HH-number prominently displayed. | Judging from the one and only cover I have from this 17-book run: branding returns to Harlequin Historical. | Third HH Series (July 1988-present) |
| July 1988 to January 1991 | February 1991 to February 1993 |
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| Heroine prominent, clinch secondary, montage cover. Branded Harlequin. Title and author on the diagonal. Advertising blurb at the bottom. | Branding now Harlequin Historical with a lacy border at the top right or left. I think of this as the "handkerchief montage" era. Heroine still prominent, title and author on the slant. Sometimes blurb at the bottom. | March 1993 to November 1993 | December 1993 to October 2000 |
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| Branding more subtle. Still Harlequin Historical. Uses the same two fonts across titles and authors. Title still occasionally slanted. Cover art more variable: some montages; hero, heroine or couple can predominate. | No unifying cover elements except Harlequin Historicals brand (which shrinks further in March 1994). Anything goes! | November 2000 to September 2002 | October 2002 to present |
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| Red and gold faux-stepback covers. For the first month they also include the red/gold HH logo overlapping the stepback-stripe (which sort of ruins the illusion). Branding now Harlequin, and larger. As for the rest, it's still open season. | All branding stripped from cover. Cover art and composition varies widely. Most contain some teaser text, eg: on The Captain's Lady above "Press-ganged on to the high seas!" |