Despite the profound words of Emerson, Cicero and many other additional great contributors, it is the illustrations that stand out the most in this book.
“A presentable example of ornate, yet tasteful bookmaking is issued by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in their edition of Cicero’s ‘On Friendship’ and Emerson’s essay on the same subject, with decoration by Mildred and Edith Cowles. These colored decorations, consisting more or less of conventionalized floral patterns of unobtrusive quality, are unquestionably the distinction of the volume”(The Nation, 1909)
The borders consist of a total of fourteen different designs. One of the designs is unique to the cover page. The other thirteen appear in nearly the same, repeating order. This repetition occurs a little less than ten times throughout. There is one repeating design that appears in a sporadic position within each repetition of these designs. It would seem that this was a mistake either in the print or design of the book illustrations. Because the various designs are many and diverse, it might go by unnoticed, unless the reader took the time to study them.
The elements of the design include poppies, pansies, honey sickle, roses, birds, grapes, urns, ivy, hyacinths, fuscias, morning glories, and irises.
“A presentable example of ornate, yet tasteful bookmaking is issued by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in their edition of Cicero’s ‘On Friendship’ and Emerson’s essay on the same subject, with decoration by Mildred and Edith Cowles. These colored decorations, consisting more or less of conventionalized floral patterns of unobtrusive quality, are unquestionably the distinction of the volume”(The Nation, 1909)
The borders consist of a total of fourteen different designs. One of the designs is unique to the cover page. The other thirteen appear in nearly the same, repeating order. This repetition occurs a little less than ten times throughout. There is one repeating design that appears in a sporadic position within each repetition of these designs. It would seem that this was a mistake either in the print or design of the book illustrations. Because the various designs are many and diverse, it might go by unnoticed, unless the reader took the time to study them.
The elements of the design include poppies, pansies, honey sickle, roses, birds, grapes, urns, ivy, hyacinths, fuscias, morning glories, and irises.