Trilby the fairy of Argyle - poster
The pattern
This still is filed under Lettered cover hook.
Define
The cover is the hook, and the hook is lettering: a title treated as an image.
Mechanism
Type as bait. The words are drawn so they stop the hand before the contents are known.
Verdict
A journal, book, or issue must sell itself on a rack or a feed
Why it works
It rides a borrowed name. Trilby was the word the market already knew, so it is set alone and first, and the qualifier the Fairy of Argyle arrives afterwards, once the eye is committed. The Scottish setting is then carried entirely by props rather than statement, thistles, a plaid binding, the word Argyle. Specifying the binding, Scotch Plaid Boards, gives a fifty-cent book a described physical object to want, and putting SOLD HERE in the biggest lower type turns the sheet into a dealer bill rather than an announcement.
Steal this when
Use this when you are launching something ordinary into a market already excited about a particular word or name. Lead with the borrowed word, qualify second, describe the physical object in concrete terms so a low price still feels like a purchase, and end with where to get it.