Design for a Book Cover

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

This design for a book cover by Alice Cordelia captures the creative energy of American graphic design at the turn of the twentieth century. Created between roughly 1887 and 1903, the work reflects a time when publishers increasingly commissioned artists to produce eye-catching covers that blended illustration, lettering, and ornament. Morse, an American designer active during this period, contributed to this emerging field at a moment when books were becoming more accessible to a growing middle-class readership. Classified simply as graphic design and held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the piece reminds us how commercial art helped shape everyday visual culture. Although its exact medium remains under study and the work is currently labeled “Research in Progress,” the design offers a window into Morse’s practice and the broader evolution of book arts in the United States. Visitors can appreciate it as both a finished concept and an invitation to learn more about the women who helped define early modern graphic design.