Theodore Brown Hapgood, Jr. (1871–1938)

This Bostonian designed not only book covers, but also bookplates, posters, and a set of type ornaments, known as Hapgood florets. His cover designs were often based on floral and branch motifs, reminiscent of Renaissance woodcut borders seen on title pages and chapter headings, see pba00067, John U. Lloyd, Right Side of the Car (R.G. Badger & Co., 1897). In this title, the lettering style is very similar to Sarah W. Whitman’s.

Monograms: serifed or sans serif H and TBH (with dots between the letters or not); and sans and serifed, large H with a small T within the upper part of the H and the B in the lower, see pbw00246, Sarah Orne Jewett, A Plea for Front Yards (Alfred Bartlett, 1902).

Click here to search the PBO database for bindings designed by Theodore Hapgood.

Sources: Charles Gullans and John Espey, “American Trade Bindings and Their Designers, 1880–1915” (1979); Nancy Finlay, Artists of the Book in Boston, 1890–1910 (1985). See also W.A. Kittredge, Theodore B. Hapgood (Boston: Society of Printers, 1942).

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