#Theodore Brown Hapgood

[uwmspeccoll]

Publishers’ Binding Thursday

I found this book while browsing our stacks on a hunt for a nice publishers’ binding, and the spine immediately caught my eye. The book is Prue and I by American author, public speaker, and abolitionist George William Curtis (1824-1892). Published in 1899 by Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. in New York and Boston, the book features color illustrations signed by Harry C. Edwards (1868-1922) and an added title page designed by Theodore Brown Hapgood (1871-1938). It’s possible that the cover is also designed by T.B. Hapgood, though it does not bear his initials. 

The cover is described thusly in our catalog: “Grayish olive green diagonal fine rib cloth, ornate gilt iris and leaf design with matte gold fleur-de-lis surrounding gilt lettering, all within gilt double rule border, motif repeated on spine.” I would argue that the cloth is not “grayish” at all, but I think that a pretty neat description of this binding.

I was tickled by some of the passages I read upon opening the book (ex: “Prue often says [xyz]. She is right, as usual.”) and by the dedication: “To Mrs. Henry W. Longfellow in memory of the happy hours at our castles in Spain.” How many castles do you have? 

View more Publishers’ Binding Thursday posts.

-- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager