Note: This is a draft--comments
and suggestions are welcome!
The
Oriental Influence
Adzuma
or the Japanese Wife by Sir Edwin
Arnold New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893.
Trow Directory Printing, New York.
18.4 x 12.2 cm.
Margaret
Armstrong did a beautiful design for this book, but
although the theme is Japanese, the design has more a
feeling of Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts transition. There
is nothing about the lettering of the title to create a
Japanese atmosphere.
Two versions are in the collection, above is white, gold and dark green stamping on light green cloth, and
the other is on white cloth (a reference copy). [unsigned MA, GE 14]
Love and Rocks
by Laura E.
Richards
Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1898
Colonial Press, Boston.
17.5 x 11.2 cm.
This
very modern looking seascape anticipates the color
sensibilities and spatial relationships of the Art Deco period and serigraphic works of the
1970's. The asymmetrical composition combines a Japanese influence
reminiscent of the seascapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige
with the flat design space that Will
Bradley popularized. On the horizon is a gold
radiant sun.
A Woman Tenderfoot
by Grace
Gallatin Seton-Thompson
Illustrated
by Ernest Seton-Thompson
New York: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1900
20.1 x 15 cm.
Dark green
and gold on light green linen finish cloth. A silhouetted coyote
howls at a gold moon, which is partly obscured by a dark
freeform cloud reminiscent of Japanese imagery containing the
title in gold. The coyote is finely detailed, but the hilly
landscape in the background is like a quick sketch.
This design,
possibly by the authors, looks remarkably modern, and one might
mistake it for the 1950's.
Indian
motifs were popular on Kipling's works, and helped
create a sense of place.
Here we see the symmetrical influence of India, compared
to the asymmetry of Japan that has influenced Love
and Rocks and A Woman Tenderfoot. Here the
design is static and vertical, but with those two the
design is active and moves on the diagonal from lower
left to upper right.
Red cloth
with black and light gray design and gold title
Red
cloth with black, green, and light gray wraparound image
of oriental rug, with gold titles. Note that the
spine and back cover continue the design, which is a
repeating pattern with variations.
by Richard Minsky
This
very modern looking seascape anticipates the color
sensibilities and spatial relationships of the Art Deco period and serigraphic works of the
1970's. The asymmetrical composition combines a Japanese influence
reminiscent of the seascapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige
with the flat design space that Will
Bradley popularized. On the horizon is a gold
radiant sun.
Dark green
and gold on light green linen finish cloth. A silhouetted coyote
howls at a gold moon, which is partly obscured by a dark
freeform cloud reminiscent of Japanese imagery containing the
title in gold. The coyote is finely detailed, but the hilly
landscape in the background is like a quick sketch. 
