Two Years in the French West Indies

1890

Not on view

A leading New York late nineteenth century book-cover designer, Morse studied at the Woman’s Art School of the Cooper Union, then under John La Farge before working for Louis C. Tiffany as a painter and designer of stained glass. In 1887 she began to concentrate on book-covers, fufilling eighty-three commissions for New York commercial publishers by 1905. Complementing the text, she chose imagery ranging from classical, to Renaissance, Celtic, Arabic, Gothic, Rococo, Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau. This commercial book-cover design, inspired by a French strapwork binding of the sixteenth century, is covered in olive green diagonal-rib cloth, stamped in orange, gold, and three tones of green.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Two Years in the French West Indies
Designer: Alice Cordelia Morse (American, Ohio 1863–1961)
Author: Lafcadio Hearn (Irish, naturalized Japanese 1850–1904)
Publisher: Harper & Brothers (American, New York)
Date: 1890
Medium: Green cloth covered boards with gold, orange and green decoration
Dimensions: Overall: 7 1/2 x 11 5/8 in. (19.1 x 29.6 cm)
Front cover: 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (19.1 x 12.1 cm)
Front cover and spine: 7 1/2 x 6 13/16 in. (19.1 x 17.3 cm)
Classification: Bindings
Credit Line: Gift of Alice C. Morse, 1923, transferred from the Library
Object Number: 56.522.52
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Old Ways and New, Alice Cordelia Morse American, Beige cloth covered boards with brown and gold decoration — Old Ways and New
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Curiosities of the American Stage, Alice Cordelia Morse American, Red cloth covered boards with gold decoration — Curiosities of the American Stage
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Tanagra: an idyl of Greece, Alice Cordelia Morse American, Green cloth covered boards with gold decoration — Tanagra: an idyl of Greece
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Seth's Brother's Wife: A Study of Life in the Greater New York, Alice Cordelia Morse American, Gold cloth over boards with brown and gold decoration — Seth's Brother's Wife: A Study of Life in the Greater New York
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Crow's Nest and Belhaven Tales, Alice Cordelia Morse American, Pale brown cloth covered boards with green decoration — Crow's Nest and Belhaven Tales
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