History of Graphic Design through Publications: ENGLISH ILLUSTRATION

Location: Special Collections NC978 W5 1897

Gleeson White was an English writer on art.

This book contains reprints of  illustrations from around the 1860s, an era where wood cuts were the major reproduction method.

A review from the Spectator, Sept. 18, 1897

It was a happy idea to collect together the illustrations scattered through books and magazines of such men as Millais, Sandys, Whistler, Houghton, and others. Besides the reproductions of the wood engravings themselves, there are also facsimiles of some of the original drawings. By this we see how much has been gained by modern processes. But can we say modern illustration has improved ? We think not. In the sixties style and artistic spirit were evident. Now too often the ideal of the illustrator is the photograph. In the work before us we have ample evidence of the genius of Mr. Sandys. In the frontispiece of Morgan le Fay, and in the illustration to one of Christina Rossetti's poems facing p. 63, we see the marvellous power this artist has of combining infinite detail with passionate expression. Mr. Gleeson White gives an exhaustive account of the various periodicals in which the illustrations in this book originally appeared.

You can see the entire book online through Archive.org. But the real book is beautifully printed engravings and letterpress. Come see it!