Bandontwerp voor: Louis Couperus, Extaze: een boek van geluk, 1894 before 1894

This is a design for a book cover by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst for Louis Couperus’ book “Extaze: een boek van geluk”, published in 1894. The cover is a small ink drawing (62 mm x 62 mm) on paper, currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. The stylized letter “E”, interwoven with organic, flowing lines, is characteristic of Holst’s decorative style. The artist’s interest in nature and symbolism is also apparent in the design. The artwork can be found under the accession number RPT-T-2015-41-7446.