Neruppu mallikai / Cempiyan̲ Celvan̲. Kol̲umpu : Vīrakēcari ; Colombo : Sole distributors, Express Newspapers (Cey.), 1981. From the University of Chicago Library.

நெருப்பு மல்லிகை Neruppu Malligai by செம்பியன் செல்வன் Sempiyan Selvan.

This title might translate to “Jasmine Fire”? Jasmine flowers are commonly worn by ladies in their hair – and these violent illustrations definitely lead one to believe that this novel is about the torment of a woman. Looks very scary to me!

Illustrations aside, the lettering on this cover is so unique! The jumbo-sized pulli dots, the differing heights of the title letters, with stretching proportions and snakey curves. I really like the end result of these experiments! Works very well, I feel! I just wish the cover were more crisp, but alas, there is some definite registration error in the printing!

Further down the page, we have the angular, boxy red lettering as a stark contrast, with elongated, rectangular pulli dots. அதி சிறந்த பிரதேசப் பரிசு நாவல்

And again, another contrast, the extremely narrow, compressed publisher’s mark. வீரகேகரி How cool is that?