Iron Horse

Get ready to follow your creative train of thought with Pacifica! Reproducing a unique gold stamped, dark brown leather cover crafted by the American bookbinder Alice Cordelia Morse (1863–1961) in the style of 16th-century fanfare bindings, Pacifica represents a spirit of wayfaring and grand adventure.

The original binding was crafted to hold William Seward Webb’s California and Alaska and Over the Canadian Pacific Railway, a well-regarded travelogue first published in 1890. The book detailed a trip Webb took with his family through western North America, documenting the wildlife they viewed and the general experience of travelling by train, or “iron horse.” This edition, which was published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in New York, featured Webb’s notes and illustrations of the journey through Colorado, New Mexico, California, Montana, British Columbia, and the Canadian Rockies.

This exquisite edition was produced as a deluxe gift book and was limited to only 500 copies. The copy reproduced here is now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library in New York City.

As an artist, Morse maintained the belief that the book designer must take the central idea of the book and creatively depict it on the cover. For this binding, one can imagine her creating train tracks crisscrossing a map, or perhaps even the spokes of a compass, in the gold stamping she patterned.

Travel is said to broaden the mind, so it is our hope that our Iron Horse design will inspire your creativity and expression through not just the beauty of the binding, but the unique story behind it.