In 1998 Nick Cave’s book “And the Ass Saw the Angel” used a photograph of a Banksy image on the cover. This was the same year that the first record cover stencilled by Banksy appeared in Bristol. My question is: ” How did Penguin Books recognise Banksy’s art so early?” – or was it Nick Cave that had the idea?
As the image appears on a book by a music icon, I will include this book in my collection of Banksy covers.

I think I know the answer to this (I was at glastonbury 1998) – In 1998, Blur were playing at Glastonbury, they saw banksy artwork there and commissioned him to do some album cover work. Nick Cave was also playing at Glastonbury the same year…. So i presume that this is the connection. Penguin books is probably the red herring.