See more objects with the tag illustration, book cover.

Object Timeline

1948

  • Work on this object began.

1963

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2019

2021

2024

  • You found it!

Drawing, Design for Book Cover, "Intruder in the Dust"

This is a Drawing. It was written by William Faulkner and designed by E. McKnight Kauffer and published by Random House. It is dated 1948 and we acquired it in 1963. Its medium is brush and gouache, graphit,e and chalk. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.


Intruder in the Dust tells a chilling account of an African American farmer, Lucas, who is wrongfully accused of murdering a white man. Lucas is in danger of being lynched by a mob before he is proved innocent with the help of the narrator, a white teenager. Kauffer designed two covers that featured Lucas, but Random House chose to publish an illustration of an empty churchyard cemetery that holds the exonerating evidence.

This object was donated by Mrs. Edward McKnight Kauffer. It is credited Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.

Its dimensions are

29.2 × 21.6 cm (11 1/2 × 8 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Drawing, Design for Book Cover, "Intruder in the Dust"; Designed by Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954); Written by William Faulkner (American, 1897 - 1962); Published by Random House (United States); USA; brush and gouache, graphit,e and chalk; 29.2 × 21.6 cm (11 1/2 × 8 1/2 in.); Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer; 1963-39-1210

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://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18447193/ |title=Drawing, Design for Book Cover, "Intruder in the Dust" |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>