Design for a Book Cover
ca. 1887–1903
Classification
graphic design
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Accession Number
1943-33-1-4
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This design for a book cover by Alice Cordelia captures the creative energy of American graphic design at the turn of the twentieth century. Created between roughly 1887 and 1903, the work reflects a time when publishers increasingly commissioned artists to produce eye-catching covers that blended illustration, lettering, and ornament. Morse, an American designer active during this period, contributed to this emerging field at a moment when books were becoming more accessible to a growing middle-class readership. Classified simply as graphic design and held in the Smithsonian American Art Mus...