Virgil Finlay Illustration for Ayn Rand's Anthem, Famous Fantastic Mysteries

This Virgil Finlay pen-and-ink illustration accompanied a reprint of Ayn Rand's dystopian novella Anthem in Famous Fantastic Mysteries. Two figures stand beneath a massive, gnarled dead tree on barren terrain, gazing toward a distant skyline of angular towers shrouded in churning clouds. Finlay's characteristic fine stippling and crosshatching lend an engraving-like quality, evoking the story's post-collectivist ruined world and the protagonist's rediscovery of individuality amid decayed civilization.