Visual Words: Art and the Material Book in Victorian England

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Curtis (art history, Memorial U. of Newfoundland) examines the textual-visual relationship in literary culture from the early part of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th that he traces to a sensibility that the visual and artistic and the textual had common precursors such as pictographs and hieroglyphs, and should complement and complete each other. Portraits of authors; paintings of contemporary life; graphic illustration; graphic text such as advertising, calligraphy, and typography; bookbinding; and the book as a cultural artifact all fall under his gaze. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)