FOR THE SOUL OF RAFAEL

Chicago, IL: A.C. McClurg, 1906. First Edition, First Thus . Hardcover. Near Fine/No Jacket. Harold A. Taylor (Illustrator); Ralph Fletcher (Decorative Designs). Text/As New. Illustrated boards/NF w/edge rubs. DJ/None. Gift inscription to title page. Illustrated w/19 plates by Harold A. Taylor, decorative page designs by Ralph Fletcher Seymour, Spanish music scores. A romance in the mission days of the Southwest. A tale of love, duty and honor all to save the soul of Rafael.. Young, aristocratic Spanish girl, Marta Estavan is soon to leave the convent in which she was raised. Her guardian, Dona Luisa Artega, has a wayward son named Rafael. A marriage is arranged between the two. However, in the interrum, Marta saves the life of Anglo-American Keith Bryton; they fall in love. Rafael's manipulative mother tells Bryton that Marta has entered a convent for life, Marta that Bryton died, and exacts a vow from the girl that she will marry Rafael ... Bryton resurfaces, but Marta is now married and well knows the unattractive character of her husband. Author, actress and activitst for Native Americans, Marah Ellis Ryan(1866 - 1934) was born Ellis Martin. Ryan lived among the Hopi in her mid-forties and thought to be the first white woman initiated into secret religious rites. The story, with the set near San Juan Capistrano, was adapted to film under the same title in 1920 starring Clara Kimball Young supported by a substantial Spanish cast; filmed near San Juan Capistrono, it was noted for exceptional photography..