City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
The Ruling Passion: Tales of Nature and Human Nature
New York: Scribner, 1913, [c1901]

Green, and gloss and matte gold on dark blue cloth. Another version exists as blindstamping and gold on olive-green leather.

Another cover from Armstrong’s blue cloth series. The matte gold retains a stronger finish than on The Blue Flower, in case 2. Armstrong used vivid colors to great effect in this design. Here, pine branches are arranged in vertical, symmetrical, intersecting arcs. If you look closely at the pine branches, you see the quality of ornamental detail Armstrong is praised for realizing in her work.