WHERE STORIES BLOOM

Van Dyke, Henry (1852–1933)

The Ruling Passion: Tales of Nature and Human Nature [Margaret Armstrong Designed Cloth]

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1915.

A BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED SCRIBNER GIFT BOOK COMBINING MARGARET ARMSTRONG'S DECORATIVE ART WITH W. APPLETON CLARK'S ATMOSPHERIC ILLUSTRATIONS.

Originally published in 1901, The Ruling Passion gathers Henry van Dyke's reflective tales celebrating the natural world, human character, and quiet moral insight. This handsome later Scribner printing preserves one of Margaret Armstrong's distinguished decorative cloth bindings while retaining the rich production values of the original edition, including laid paper, top-edge gilt, and eight tipped-in color plates after paintings by W. Appleton Clark.

More than a collection of stories, the volume represents the finest traditions of early twentieth-century American bookmaking, when publishers sought to unite literature, illustration, typography, and decorative binding into a single artistic object. Armstrong's elegant cover design and Clark's softly atmospheric illustrations complement Van Dyke's gentle prose, making the book equally appealing to collectors of American decorated cloth and illustrated books.

An American Decorative Binding.
Margaret Armstrong remains among the foremost designers of American publisher's bindings, and her work for Scribner's ranks among the most recognizable examples of the Golden Age of decorated cloth. 

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Publisher's navy blue cloth decorated in green, black, and gilt after a design by Margaret Armstrong. Top edge gilt. Printed on laid paper. Octavo; 7.5 x 5.25 inches; [10], 3–295, [1] pages. Illustrated with eight tipped-in color plates after paintings by W. Appleton Clark. Later printing, October 1915.

An attractive unused pictorial bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown, remains unsigned.

CONDITION: Near Fine. The bindings are tight with only a hint of a lean. Text is clean with light, even age-toning. Minimal shelf handling wear with only a hint of corner rubbing. Top edge gilt remains bright. The decorative binding is especially well preserved, and all eight color plates present. A colletible copy of this Armstrong-designed edition.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The Art of the American Gift Book —
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Charles Scribner's Sons produced a series of finely made gift books that reflected the highest standards of American commercial publishing. The Ruling Passion exemplifies this tradition through the collaboration of Henry van Dyke, decorative binding designer Margaret Armstrong, and illustrator W. Appleton Clark. Together they created a volume whose enduring appeal lies as much in its craftsmanship as in its literary content.

Margaret Armstrong's Decorative Legacy.
Margaret Armstrong transformed the appearance of American publisher's bindings through her imaginative use of color, gilt, and stylized botanical ornament. Her bindings remain a cornerstone of American decorated cloth collecting, and volumes retaining their original brilliance continue to be sought by collectors and institutions documenting the evolution of American book design.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Minsky, The Art of American Book Covers, 1875–1930, p66.

Subjects: Henry van Dyke, Margaret Armstrong, W. Appleton Clark, American Decorated Cloth, Scribner's Bindings, Gift Books, Book Design, Illustrated Literature, Laid Paper, American Literature, American Decorated Cloth, Illustrated Books, Nature Writing.

Item #22175

Price: $75.00