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"The Conquest of Space" Bonestell Color Illustrations Index

by Melvin Schuetz

Many people received their introduction to the art of Chesley Bonestell by way of coming across a copy of the famous 1949 Willy Ley/Chesley Bonestell book, "The Conquest of Space".

Of the 58 Bonestell illustrations in "Conquest", 43 were first published in magazines, between 1944 and 1948. Whereas a majority of the illustrations in CONQUEST were reproduced in black and white, almost all of those early magazine appearances were in color.

Presented here is a table of those 43 illustrations, along with the names and dates of the magazines where they first appeared.

Transcontinental rocket ship taking off from Long Island Pic, Oct. 1947
Twenty-five miles above New Jersey Coronet, Aug. 1946
A hundred and twenty-five miles above Williamsport, Pa. Pic, Oct. 1947
Five hundred miles above central Nebraska Pic, Oct. 1947
Two hundred and fifty miles above the Nevada-Utah border Pic, Oct. 1947
Flying to Europe, rocket ship 200 miles above the Atlantic Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Circling the earth outside the atmosphere, over England Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Four thousand miles above the surface of the earth, looking west Life, Mar. 4, 1946
"Zero hour minus five" - preparing the ship for a trip to the moon Pic, Sep. 1948
Fifteen thousand miles out from the earth, coasting without power Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Thirty-five thousand miles out Coronet, Aug. 1946
Forty-five hundred miles from the moon Mechanix Illustrated, Sep. 1945
One of the most impressive mountain ranges on the moon Pic, Sep. 1948
An eclipse of the sun by the earth Pic, Sep. 1948
Two hundred miles above the moon Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Fifty miles above the moon Pic, Sep. 1948
Fifty miles above San Francisco Bay Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Beginnings of the lunar base; the weekly transport to earth being readied Pic, June 1947
The crater Aristarchus, the brightest spot on the moon Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Promontory Laplace in foreground, promontory Heraclides on horizon Pic, Sep. 1948
A study in apparent sizes; constellation Orion and earth, in lunar sky Life, Mar. 4, 1946
The Great Valley of the "Alps," from a ship 10 miles above the moon Pic, Sep. 1948
The rocket ship some 10 miles above the lunar pole Mechanix Illustrated, Sep. 1945
Standing on a high peak of the eastern wall of the crater Copernicus Pic, Sep. 1948
Ship 25 miles above Mt. Pico, which is 10,000 feet high Life, Mar. 4, 1946
View from the rim of the crater Theophilus into its interior Life, Mar. 4, 1946
Ship ready for return trip Astounding Science Fiction, July 1948
View from spaceship's cabin, sometime during 1985 Coronet, Aug. 1946
Surface of Venus Air Trails and Science Frontiers, Sep. 1947
Another view of Mars from Deimos Coronet, Aug. 1946
Mars as seen from Phobos, its nearer moon Coronet, Aug. 1946
Saturn as it appears in the dark sky of its satellite Japetus Life, May 29, 1944
Saturn seen from Phoebe, its outermost satellite Life, May 29, 1944
Saturn as it appears from its satellite Dione Life, May 29, 1944
The rings of Saturn seen from a position on the planet at 15 ½ degrees northern latitude Life, May 29, 1944
Saturn as seen from its satellite Titan Life, May 29, 1944
Saturn as seen from its satellite Mimas Life, May 29, 1944
Close-up of another sun: the double star Mira Astounding Science Fiction, Apr. 1948
What would happen if a very large meteorite scored a hit on Manhattan Coronet, July 1947
Martian landscape, eroded mountains in distance Air Trails and Science Frontiers, Sep. 1947
Martian landscape, looking toward the pole Coronet, Aug. 1946
Jupiter's surface Air Trails and Science Frontiers, Sep. 1947
The 200-inch telescope Science Illustrated, June 1947

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A former satellite controller in the USAF and private industry (Hughes Communications), Melvin H. Schuetz has been on the staff of the Baylor University Libraries since 1994. He lives in Waco, Texas, with his wife, Carol. He has researched and collected publications from around the world containing Bonestell space art for 35 years. Mr. Schuetz holds the position of Archivist with Bonestell Space Art, an organization established over thirty years ago to officially represent the artist.

Schuetz is the author of "A Chesley Bonestell Space Art Chronology", a bibliography citing some 750 publications where Bonestell's space art appeared over five decades time. His website, describing his archive, is found here.