story identification - What was that Sci-fi book mixing classic art and book excerpts to build a timeline of the universe?

I was 12 years old in 1988 and, that year, I spent most of my savings on a large format hardcover book where the authors attempted to tell the story of mankind's expansion in the universe.

They did that by taking characters, settings, technologies and plot devices from famous novels or pulps and juxtapose it with more or less random cover art. The result was extremelly well put together and -- at least to my young mind -- very convincing.

Needless to say, this book has been a kind of gateway drug for me.

Unfortunately, I lost this book about 15 years ago. I have no idea who were the author(s) or the editor(s).

Here is what I remember:

the book was written in French but I kind of remember that it was translated from the American

the book measured about 30 cm x 40 cm

it had one of those removable jacket that I lost quickly so I have no idea what it looked like

the actual covers were blue-gray and off-white and represented a two tone space scene with no title

all the art was in full colour

most of the art came from sci-fi books but there was also Conan-type fantasy when they needed to illustrate a planet returned to barbary or whatever

That's it.

Do you know this book?

Answer

That sounds like the "Terran Trade Authority" series, by Stuart Cowley.

The series runs 8 or 9 books.

http://www.digitalwaterfalls.co.uk/ttabooks.html shows the covers;
http://www.digitalwaterfalls.co.uk/otherbooks.html shows related works' covers

From the slipcover and plain hardcover mode, it's probably one of the second run, the "Galactic Encounters" series.

Both describe the same universe and are by the same author, despite being credited under a pseudonym Steven Caldwell.

All are out of print. A revised version of a couple of the books was rereleased around the turn of the century, using new art (CGI) of the ships shown, by Morrigan Press, in 2006.

Further, a Role-playing game was also released by Morrigan.

The project is apparently dead over rights issues.

There is extensive web-presence due to fans.

Comments

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