{"id":798,"date":"2018-06-29T10:22:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.academiathemes.com\/museo-museum\/?page_id=798"},"modified":"2018-06-29T10:22:16","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:22:16","slug":"book-illustration","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/book-illustration\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ART OF BOOK ILLUSTRATION"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cruikshank lived and worked during the stratospheric rise of book illustration and, by the time of his death, was considered a \u201crare and original genius, a pioneer\u201d<\/strong> in its forms (Punch<\/em>, 1878). With the advent of graphic technologies\u2013woodcuts, steel and wood engravings, copperplate etchings, lithography, mezzotint\u2013authors could commission artists to provide visual art to enhance and beautify their texts. These illustrations added visual interest and character dimension to the literary work, allowing readers to fully immerse inside the world of the story. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As scholar Lynn Alexander explains, book illustrations \u201ccan develop a novel\u2019s themes subtly, delicately, and powerfully\u2026illustrations often extended the story’s visual frameworks or characters, alerted the reader to significant patterns, or added metaphorical comment.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book illustrations provided an essential launch pad for the rest of Cruikshank\u2019s artistic career. While Cruikshank\u2019s illustrations for Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist<\/em> are by far his most recognized, he illustrated at least 860 books throughout his career. These contributions range from page decorations, called cuts, to intricately detailed, hand-colored plates. The thematic range of his work stretches from depictions of iconic characters to action scenes to fantastical sketches of otherworldly contraptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“For a long time Cruikshank\u2019s etchings were the model of book illustrations, and it will be chiefly as a book illustrator that the artist will be remembered. To many of us the characters of the old novelists made their appeal only in the dress that Cruikshank gave them.”<\/p><\/p>\n\u201cGeorge Cruikshank,\u201d London Examiner<\/em> for July 10, 1875.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The items featured in these pages are a small but representative snapshot of Cruikshank\u2019s extensive work in book illustration. The collection \u201cNovel Collaborators\u201d<\/strong> explores George Cruikshank\u2019s work for\u2013and at times contentious relationships with\u2013notable novelists Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882). The \u201cFantasy & Folklore\u201d<\/strong> collection explores a broader range of sketches, capturing the theatrics of George Cruikshank\u2019s illustrative work in fairy tales as well as whimsical sketches and depictions of the occult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these collections, you will be introduced to a dramatic, curious, and entertaining section of George Cruikshank\u2019s career as his illustrations brought vibrant life to the printed page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on the images below to explore each collection<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cruikshank lived and worked during the stratospheric rise of book illustration and, by the time of his death, was considered a \u201crare and original genius, a pioneer\u201d in its forms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2178,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/cruikshank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}