The Tent on the Beach

Year: 1899

Format: Book cover

Media: Blue cloth

Technique(s): Gilded print

Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 in.

Designer Overview
Margaret Neilson Armstrong

September 1867 - July 1944

United States

Hailing from New York, Margaret experienced art education through classes at the Cooper Union and the Arts Students’ League in the 1880s. Throughout her life, Margaret was constantly surrounded by artists within her family and their friends, predominately stained glass art that her father and sister specialized in.

Margaret first began her work by designing covers for children’s books, a field prominently dominated by men, and left a large amount of her first works unsigned. With her binding designs on display at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago of 1893, Margaret’s book designs grew in success. Margaret’s work was also fueled by the Arts and Crafts Movement that inspired the public to find the beauty in everyday objects. A pioneer in the field of cloth binding designs, Margaret was a designer in demand and led her to creating over 300 book designs throughout her career.