Talk:Stops of Various Quills

The phrase "stops of various Quills" comes from John Milton's poem "Lycidas", written in 1637. Henry Pitz (1895-1976), illustrator and Howard Pyle biographer, describes this collaborative work as "a labor of love"—where the "great kinship" that existed between author and illustrator is evident in "both text and picture." Howells and Pyle both lost children early in the year 1889: Howells a daughter (Winifred), and Pyle a son (Sellers). Pitz relates how they "both suffered from interludes of melancholia" as a result—a term that you will find etched in illustrations on the pages of "November" and "Question."

1895 edition
See the scan index for this edition.

See page images at Wikimedia Commons.

View an edition at Archive.org.



1896 limited edition
According to a December 1895 issue of The Literary News (p. 359), an "édition de luxe" was published (with a publication date of 1896), "limited to fifty copies, each signed by Mr. Howells and Mr. Pyle, with illustrations printed in sepia, and the full-page illustrations on Japan proofs in black." This edition sold for $15.