In the Grass - short story by Gouverneur Morris in Collier's magazine

I read about this story by Gouverneur Morris in an article from Michael Dirda where he said it was the only thing the author was remembered for. I had already read (and liked) the novel, Yellow Men and Gold, that appeared in Adventure magazine, so I decided to seek this out.

I read the story in its original magazine form - it appeared in the Christmas Collier's magazine, December 16, 1911. The illustrations were good, but I didn't realize quite how good till I stumbled upon this original painting of one of the illustrations. I thought the interior illustration in the magazine must have been a pencil drawing because it was in black and white.

The illustrations were done by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock, who was a prominent illustrator of the time. He also illustrated Mark Twain's classic story of the downfall of a small town corrupted by its own pride - The Man from Hadleyburg.

For comparison:

Interior Illustration (black and white) by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock for In the Grass by Gouverneur Morris

Illustration by Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock for In the Grass by Gouverneur Morris
Image Courtesy Heritage Auctions

If you want to see a much larger image, where you can practically trace the brushstrokes, click here. It may take some time to load.

You can download the story here. Enjoy.