Rainey

'Rainey' was briefly a cover artist in around 1960-62 who worked for Badger Books and Digit Books. When I was having a dig around for information, I stumbled upon the work of Dan Rainey, who is quite possibly our artist. Rainey is described as Irish and his watercolours flourished in the 1930s. I'm not convinced this is an accurate description as, elsewhere, at least one piece of artwork to be found in the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum (see above) dates from 1977. A second painting from the North Down Museum (below) is an undated painting of the old Holywood Pier at Belfast Lough.

The signature visible in the top painting of a small coaster is certainly similar to the signature to be found on some of the covers below. A search on Google also turns up some prints of the Titanic.

An auction in 2013 at RDS Clyde Hall, Ballsbridge, Dublin, included a collection of 10 albums, 7 of which contained "historical recollections and research by Dan Rainey, 35 watercolours and various photographs and documents. Articles include East Belfast characters, Holidays in Dublin and Portrush, a collected history of Holywood, childhood memories of Ballymacarret in the 1920s, the Connswater Flute Band, etc." The final three albums contained a total of 129 watercolours and pen and ink drawings of historical buildings and locations throughout Ireland and also ornithological drawings from the 1930s. Another auction included 204 large watercolours and pen and ink drawings, 8 small watercolours and 1 oil painting of ships that passed through Belfast, all contained loosely in albums. Another album comprised 19 pages of watercolours of ships ensigns, flags and colours.

Apart from saying that it still needs to be confirmed that cover artist Rainey is Dan Rainey, all I can add is that Rainey's cover for Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key was based on an earlier cover by De Seta (see here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVER INDEX

Badger Books
Supernatural Stories, 9 issues between 37 (Nov 1960) and 67 (Nov 1962).
Passport for the Damned by Robert L. Fuller (WW106, Mar 1961)
Desert Break-Through by Roland K. Johnson (WW108, Apr 1961)
The Iron Heel by Anton Richler (WW109, Apr 1961)
Moment of Glory by Robert Kirton (WW110, 1961)

Digit Books
Shame by Emile Zola (R430, Jan 1961)
Guns of the Sioux by Frank McLowery (W91, Jan 1961)
Terror in the Modern Vein ed. by Donald A. Wollheim (R460, 1961)
Late Final by Lewis Gibbs (R487, May 1961)
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett (R488, May 1961)
Lament for Four Brides by Evelyn Berckman (R491, Jun 1961)
Greek Episode by Giles Tavener (R497, Jun 1961)
The Hills Hid Us Well by Liam Nolan (R498, Jun 1961)
Descent Into the Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe (R512, Aug 1961)
Hidden Guns by Alan Holmes (W114, Aug 1961)
The Sound of Death by Kenneth F. Welch (R518, Aug 1961)
Ambulance Chaser by Charles Weston (R527, Sep 1961)
Displaced Person by Grace Carey (R531, Oct 1961)
Women in Custody by Keith Lawrence (R535, Oct 1961)
Horse Thieves of Rocky River by Charles Ballew (W125, Oct 1961)
The Judas Wound by Jack Cill (R543, Nov 1961)
The Stake by James S. Rnad (R544, Nov 1961)