Byrdcliffe was, and remains, a place of haunting beauty. More than a century ago, it was established as an Arts and Crafts colony in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. Craftsmen, writers, and musicians came, lured by the atmosphere of creativity amid like-minded people. Furniture, pottery, paintings, metalwork, and textiles were all made there, and the people themselves became an interwoven part of the fabric of the place. This book is the story of the first years of the colony, the artists who visited, and the artistic community they fostered.

Illustrated with 200 images and featuring essays by noted scholars in the fields of American art history and the Arts and Crafts movement, this book traces the origins of Byrdcliffe as nothing less than the cultural nucleus of one of America's most legendary small towns. Edited by curator Nancy E. Green, this catalog accompanied a 2004 exhibition organized by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.