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Object Timeline

1955

  • Work on this object began.

2001

  • We acquired this object.

2011

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Book Cover, The Law of Civilization and Decay by Brooks Adams

This is a Book cover. It was graphic design by Alvin Lustig. It is dated 1955 and we acquired it in 2001. Its medium is lithograph on heavy paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

It is credited Gift of Susan Lustig Peck.

Its dimensions are

18.4 x 24.1cm (7 1/4 x 9 1/2in.) Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.)

It is inscribed

Printed in yellow ink, front cover upper left: Brooks Adams. Printed in cream ink, front cover upper left: THE LAW OF/CIVILIZATION/AND DECAY; lower left: A VINTAGE BOOK; lower right: K-22 95 In Canada $1.00. Printed in blue ink, front cover upper center left: With an introduction by Charles A. Beard. Printed vertically in cream ink, side cover: THE LAW OF CIVILIZATION AN DECAY Adams; printed horizontally in cream ink, side cover, lower center: VINTAGE/K-22. Printed in black ink, back cover: THE LAW OF/CIVILIZATION/AND DECAY/by Brooks Adams/With an introduction by Charles A. Beard/"The Law of Civilization and Decay is a magnificent book, daring in/conception and brilliant in execution. It offers clue after clue to the/major riddles of history, while it corrects scholars of the statue of/Gibbon and Marx. The treatment of the Reformation anticipated Max/Weber, the effect of geography on politics facilitated source material for the German geopolitician, Haushofer; the cyclical theory preceded/Spengler; the influence of economics on law antedated Beard; and the respect for technology foreshadowed Veblen."/Arthur Beringause, Brooks Adams: A Biography/Of the Law of Civilization and Decay, Henry Adams wrote:/"I think it is astonishing. Indeed it is the first time that serious history/has ever been written. He has done for it what only the greatest men/do; he has created a startling generalisation that has reduced all history/to a scientific formula, which is yet so simple and so obvious that/one cannot believe it to be new. My admiration for it is much to great/to be told. I have sought all my life these truths which this mighty/infant, this seer unblest, has struck with agony and bloody sweat/of genius. I stand in awe of him."/A VINTAGE BOOK/Cover design by Alvin Lustig.

Cite this object as

Book Cover, The Law of Civilization and Decay by Brooks Adams; Graphic design by Alvin Lustig (American, 1915–1955); USA; lithograph on heavy paper; 18.4 x 24.1cm (7 1/4 x 9 1/2in.) Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.); Gift of Susan Lustig Peck; 2001-29-17

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18694781/ |title=Book Cover, The Law of Civilization and Decay by Brooks Adams |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>