The Art of Book Design: Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy. Jude the obscure. London, James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1896. First edition.

I have a bit of bit of trivia to go with today’s book. According to Wikipedia,

Jude the Obscure, published in 1895, met with an even stronger negative response from the Victorian public because of its controversial treatment of sex, religion and marriage. Furthermore, its apparent attack on the institution of marriage caused further strain on Hardy’s already difficult marriage because Emma Hardy was concerned that Jude the Obscure would be read as autobiographical. Some booksellers sold the novel in brown paper bags, and the Bishop of Wakefield, Walsham How, is reputed to have burnt his copy.[20] In his postscript of 1912, Hardy humorously referred to this incident as part of the career of the book: “After these [hostile] verdicts from the press its next misfortune was to be burnt by a bishop – probably in his despair at not being able to burn me”.[27]

 

via: Books and Art

Available to read at The Internet Archive

The Art of Book Design: Stained Glass Tours of France

Charles Hitchcock Sherrill. Stained Glass Tours in France. New York, John Lane Co. London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1908.

Last week we looked at Stained Glass Tours in England by Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, from the collection of Anne, Cranky Cat Lady. It seems the author took his theme on the road and made it all the way to France.

 

Cover photo via: New York Society Library

The Book is available to read at The Internet Archive

The Art of Book Design: Invisible Links

Invisible Links. Selma Lagerlof. Translated from the Swedish by Pauline Bancroft Flach. Boston: Little Brown, and Company, 1899. First edition in English.

It has the look of a book about nature, but nope, it’s a book of short stories told in archaic, melodramatic prose.

 

Cover photo via: Books and Art

Available to read at The Internet Archive

The Art of Book Design: The Book of Saints & Friendly Beasts

Abbie Farwell Brown. The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts. Illustrated by Fanny Cory. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1900.

A children’s book full of stories about Christian saints and their friendships with animals. The stories are very loosely based on legends, but the author has spun them into fantastic folk tales of adventure. Abbie Farwell Brown was a prolific writer and published many children’s books, including a book about the Norse Gods. I rather like the idea of making fictional stories of the saints. I think it strips them of power and makes them easier to dismiss as merely characters in a children’s book, like Cinderella or Red Riding hood.

Unlike the graphic artwork in most books about Christian saints, the illustrations in this book are charming and sweet and very typical of their time at the height of the Art Nouveu period. My favourite drawing is St. Bridget & the King’s Wolf, followed closely by the energetic Saint Keneth and the Gulls.

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The Art of Book Design: Dainty Bits

Dainty Bits. Water Lily Series. Edited by Miss L. Penney. New York, The National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1891.

A children’s book full of stories and rhymes about the evils of alcohol. Some of the chapter titles include “Old Pussy’s Advice”  and “Thoughtless Dick.”

 

Source – University of Florida, George Smithers Libraries, where you can read the entire book

The Art of Book Design: Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights. Edited by Hildegard Hawthorne, illustrated by Virginia Frances Sterrett. Philadelphia, The Penn Publishing Company, 1928.

Arabian Nights is the last book illustrated by Virginia Sterrett before her death in 1931 at the age of 30.  It was a huge undertaking for Sterrett who was quite sick with tuberculosis  and living in sanatorium at the time. The artist was able to work for only brief periods each day and the book took a total of 3 years to complete. Sterrett experienced a brief improvement in her health in 1929 and was able to return home for a time. She even began work on a new book for Penn Publishing in 1930 – Myths and Legends – but she was unable to complete the work. Many people consider Arabian Nights to be the finest work that Sterrett produced.  Enjoy!

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