Marse Chan: a Tale of Old Virginia

Publisher Charles Scribner's Sons American

1892

Not on view

A leading New York book-cover designer in the late nineteenth century, 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 example is bound in warm-white plain-weave cloth stamped in brown and gold and uses Art Nouveau ornament. "Marse Chan" comes from a four-title set of works written by Thomas Nelson Page, none of which include stamping on the spine.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Marse Chan: a Tale of Old Virginia
Designer: Alice Cordelia Morse (American, Ohio 1863–1961)
Author: Thomas Nelson Page (American, 1853–1922)
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons (New York, NY)
Date: 1892
Medium: Cream cloth covered boards with dark green and gold decoration
Dimensions: Overall: 8 1/2 x 12 15/16 in. (21.6 x 32.8 cm)
Front cover: 8 1/2 x 6 in. (21.6 x 15.3 cm)
Front cover and spine: 8 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (21.6 x 17.4 cm)
Classification: Bindings
Credit Line: Gift of Alice C. Morse, 1923, transferred from the Library
Object Number: 56.522.79
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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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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