Margaret Neilson Armstrong

Margaret Neilson Armstrong (September 24, 1867 – July 18, 1944) was an American book cover designer, illustrator, and author. Noteworthy as the designer of more than 300 book covers, she also wrote and illustrated the first comprehensive guide to wildflowers of the American west (omitting flowers found only in the Rocky Mountains). She was the author of two popular biographies and three mystery novels.

Quotes

• ... In such strange homes as the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest of Arizona, or the deserts of Utah and southern California, we find the oddest desert plants, forced to curious expedients in order to sustain life amidst almost perpetual heat and drought, but often displaying blossoms of such brilliance and delicacy that they might well be envied by their more fortunate sisters, flourishing beside shady waterfalls, in a "happy valley" like Yosemite, or a splendid mountain garden, such as spreads in many-colored parterres of bloom around the feet of Mt. Rainier. On the wind-swept plains hundreds of flowers are to be found; many kinds of hardy plants brighten the salty margins of the sea cliffs, or bloom at the edge of the snow on rocky mountain peaks, while quantities of humble, everyday flowers border our country roadsides or tint the hills and meadows with lavish color.
  • "Preface". Field Book of Western Wild Flowers. C. P. Putnam's Sons. 1924. pp. iii–v.  (quote from p. iii; illustrations by Margaret N. Armstrong; written in collaboration with John James Thornber; text for 1915 1st edition)

• It was a time when fashion was permitted to walk hand in hand with piety. All the fashionable accomplishments were taught by experts at Mrs. Rowden's. Fanny's contralto voice was well trained. She acquired enough Italian to read 'Inferno,' a little Latin, even a little Greek. Her Parisian accent soon became the envy of the other English girls ...
  • Fanny Kemble, a Passionate Victorian. Macmillan. 1938. p. 33.  1st part of quote; last part of quote

• ... the months that followed Trelawny's departure from Usk must have been dreary enough. Fortunately, his new book—the one thing that had made the last year bearable—still provided some distraction for his thoughts. Recollections of the Last Days of Shelley and Byron had just been published by Moxon. There were reviews to be read, copies must be sent to old friends. He had taken great pains with the looks of his "bantling" and was satisfied.
  • Trelawny: A Man's Life. Macmillan. 1940. p. 358.  1st part of quote; last part of quote; Recollections of the Last Days of Shelley and Byron. Cambridge University Press. 2011.  (pbk reprint of 1858 1st edition); text of 1858 edition at archive.org

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Margaret Neilson Armstrong on Wikipedia