I read about this story by Gouverneur Morris in an article from Michael Dirda where he said it was the only thing the author was remembered for. I had already read (and liked) the novel, Yellow Men and Gold, that appeared in Adventure magazine, so I decided to seek this out.
I read the story in its original magazine form – it appeared in the Christmas Collier’s magazine, December 16, 1911. The illustrations were good, but I didn’t realize quite how good till I stumbled upon this original painting of one of the illustrations. I thought the interior illustration in the magazine must have been a pencil drawing because it was in black and white.
The illustrations were done by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock, who was a prominent illustrator of the time. He also illustrated Mark Twain’s classic story of the downfall of a small town corrupted by its own pride – The Man from Hadleyburg.
For comparison:
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| Interior Illustration (black and white) by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock for In the Grass by Gouverneur Morris |
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| Illustration by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock for In the Grass by Gouverneur Morris Image Courtesy Heritage Auctions |
If you want to see a much larger image, where you can practically trace the brushstrokes, click here. It may take some time to load.
You can download the story here. Enjoy.