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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1949

  • Work on this object began.

2020

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Book, Ulysses

This is a Book. It was designed by E. McKnight Kauffer and published by Random House. It is dated 1949. Its medium is lithograph. It is a part of the department.


Kauffer was a perfectionist, yet he almost always insisted on hand lettering the type. The result frequently brought a quirky irregularity to his designs. Ulysses was a familiar title to many Americans, and Kauffer recognized that the name, rather than an illustration, would be most powerful. He elongated the U so that it rises and fades into the top edge of the cover. The blue L guides the eye downward toward the remaining yellow letterforms.

It is credited Exhibition purchase.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 21.2 × 14.5 cm (8 3/8 × 5 11/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805327/ |title=Book, Ulysses |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=6 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>