Introduction

Alice C. Morse, c. 1893

Alice C. Morse (1863–1961) stands among the most inventive and professionally successful American book-cover artists of the late nineteenth century. Born in 1863 in Hammondsville, Ohio, she moved with her family to Brooklyn at the age of two, eventually finding her way into the city’s arts scene. From 1879 to 1883, she studied at the Woman’s Art School of Cooper Union—one of the few art schools open to women—laying the foundation for a career that would help to redefine commercial book design.

Seth’s Brother’s Wife, by Harold Frederic (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887) Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives, Delaware Art Museum

After briefly studying with the painter and stained-glass pioneer John La Farge, Morse joined Tiffany Glass Company in 1885, designing windows for churches and private clients. Although the work sharpened her sense of color and pattern, the long studio hours left little room for her own ambitions. By 1887 she had entered—and won—several publisher-sponsored design competitions, including the cover for Seth’s Brother’s Wife by Harold Frederic. Concluding that book design promised greater autonomy, she resigned from Tiffany’s in 1889 and returned to Cooper Union for advanced classes while continuing to accept freelance commissions.

In an 1894 article published in The Art Interchange, Morse explained her path from stained glass to book design:

“I was compelled to take up book-cover work through having competed with three other girls for some book-covers [. . .]. I won two out of three competitions. At that time I had been four years with the Tiffany Glass Co. designing windows; but growing tired of the long hours, and wishing to have time to myself for other work, I left them and turned my attention to book-covers.”