Chromolithographic cover for ‘Holly Boughs’

M E Edwards

[1886]

Laminated board

6 x 5 inches

This is a typical example of Edwards’s book cover designs. The composition is made up of a figurative device (the girl opening an umbrella), framed by a roundel, which is placed within a rectangle; rustic forms (holly, this time) animate the margins by providing a visual contrast to the geometry. [Commentary continues below.]

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

Scan and text by Simon Cooke

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