Howard Pyle's Book of the American Spirit by Howard Pyle - 1923: The Romance of American History

This is a beautifully illustrated book of Americana, "Howard Pyle's Book of the American Spirit" - The Romance of American History by Howard Pyle. 1923 1st edition (stated); Harper & Brothers; New York. The book features illustrations throughout (many are in color) by Pyle, with "narrative descriptive text from original sources."

From the Foreword: "The title of this volume was not chosen idly - it was chosen because these Howard Pyle pictures do breath an American Spirit. Beyond the technical excellence which has caused artists to treasure proofs of these pictures, beyond the unquestioned accuracy of costume and setting, is the spiritual, personal something that makes pictures live. Pyle furnishes a window into our American past as given by no word historian: wholesome, homely, full of interest."

The contents are as follows:
COMING OF THE ENGLISH AND THE DUTCH
* Virginia, the First Permanent English Settlement in America
* Founding of Plymouth and Massachusetts
* Eventful Years in Colonial History
* The Dutch Founding of New York
* How Pennsylvania was Founded
* Salem in 1692

THE FRENCH COME UPON THE SCENE
* First French Efforts to Plant Colonies in the New World
* The Dream of La Salle
* Pioneers of the Old West

THE NATION
* Rumblings of the Storm
* The Storm Breaks
* The Colonies Declare their Independence
* The Nation Finds Itself
* The Second War for Independence
* Silent Heroes of War

Condition:
There is a light stain along the top edge of the front cover; light corner wear; tiny cloth tear at the right edge of the spine; light soiling to the back cover. Tight binding with no cracks and no loose pages. The pages are mostly clean and white with occasional foxing (primarily to a few pages at the beginning of the book); a few random ink smudges/stains were found; inscription written in pen dated 1923 on front end paper; the front pastedown has a few small areas along the bottom edge where the paper has peeled off. Overall the book is in very good condition.