The Alhambra

Publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York American

1892

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. Putnam's companion gift books, "The Alhambra" and "The Conquest of Granada," both for works written by Washington Irving, are two of Morse's most elaborate designs. Each volume is bound in white plain-weave cloth and stamped in colors and gold, with the ornament recalling "Moresque Ornament from the Alhambra," no. 3, plate XLI in Owen Jones's famous "Grammar of Ornament." An example of this cover was shown at the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: The Alhambra
Artist: Alice Cordelia Morse (American, Ohio 1863–1961)
Author: Washington Irving (American, New York 1783–1859 Sunnyside, New York)
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York
Date: 1892
Medium: Cream cloth covered boards with gold, green and blue decoration
Dimensions: 8 15/16 × 14 3/16 in. (22.7 × 36 cm)
Other: 8 15/16 x 6 in. (22.7 x 15.3 cm)
Other: 8 15/16 × 8 3/16 in. (22.7 × 20.8 cm)
Classification: Bindings
Credit Line: Museum Accession, transferred from the Library
Object Number: 56.522.56
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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