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As far as I know, there have been three major publishers of Ann Petry's novel, The Street. Each one used a different cover image to sell the novel to readers. The most common publisher has used three different cover illustrations, in the 1940s, 1990s and now in the 2000s. Each of these cover illustrations sends different messages to the reader about the contents of the book.
The initial paperback
publisher for The Street was Pyramid Books, which later became
a division of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. This particular copy
was purchased at a second hand store for a dime. The title page
indicates that it is the third printing, with the first printing
in 1961, the second printing in 1964 and the third printing in
1966. Amazon.com
has, in the past, listed a copy published by this publisher with
1969 as the edition date, so it's fair to say that this novel
was not only in print, but relatively popular throughout the entire
decade of the 1960s.
Notice the difference in how the story is presented by this cover image. According to this cover image, no wonder Mrs. Hedges offers a job as a prostitute to Lutie when she walks down the street! This cover does a good job of showing Mrs. Hedges watching the street from her window, as well as an unidentifiable man watching Lutie from behind. The implication from the novel would lead one to think the man on the cover is Jones, the Super, but the man seems too well-groomed to be Jones. It's probably supposed to be a combination of Jones and Boots. He looks like Boots and is watching from the building like Jones. The Mrs. Hedges character isn't in very good focus, but she has on a lime green blouse and it's difficult from the illustration whether she has on a bandana or just a permed hairdo. Thus, the Mrs. Hedges character, while shown, is not shown as being quite as "snake-eyed" or judgmental in her perch as she comes across in the novel.
What the cover does do a good job of is showing that this is a novel that deals with many different characters, not just one major female character. The original cover implied that the novel was focused primarily on ONE female character. While Lutie is the focus of this cover as well as the novel in general, this cover shows that there's more to the story than just what happens to the main female character. However, note that there is no representation for Min. Apparently she fades into the background so much that she doesn't even make this cover.
Notice that while this cover does a nice job of showing the building and a bit of the street itself, things are still awfully clean. Compare Petry's description in the book to what you see on this cover. While there's an attempt at realism, things are still not able to be portrayed as they are described in the novel.
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