FORTUNE: THE ART OF COVERING BUSINESS, published by Gibbs-Smith; $39.95; 144 pages, hardcover."Every page will be a work of art." -- Henry Luce
In February 1929, Henry Luce presented an idea for a new business magazine to the board of Time Inc. In his memo he wrote, quoting Leonardo da Vinci: "The eye giveth to man a more perfect knowledge than doth the ear. That which is seen is more authentic than that which is heard."
"Consequently," Luce added, "the new magazine will be as beautiful a magazine as exists in the United States. If possible, the undisputed most beautiful."
The result of Luce's vision was Fortune, a business publication that faced the challenge of finding an audience in the midst of the Great Depression. And in spite of the difficult times, Fortune's circulation more than tripled in the first five years.
Reaction to the inaugural issue, which featured the industrial photography of 24-year-old Margaret Bourke-White, was nearly as lavish as the magazine itself. The New York World called it one of the greatest achievements in periodical printing that has ever been recorded.
In celebration of Fortune's 70th anniversary, Gibbs Smith Publishers has put together "Fortune: The Art of Covering Business." Together with an informative and entertaining historical essay by Daniel Okrent, the book contains more than 250 covers, in full color, from 1930-50. Each cover, by such notable artists as Diego Rivera, Fernand L