The focus will be on twentieth century work, along with historical antecedents. The accompanying essay will be hypertext linked to the books in the gallery, offering the viewer a variety of paths between the works shown. As images are added the links to other items in the exhibit will be updated. You can begin looking at the exhibition anywhere , by clicking on the highlighted text.
Every picture is linked to other images and back to the essay.
There has been no attempt to make this a history of illustration, nor is a photo on your screen a substitute for the real thing. Holding a book, feeling its weight, the smell of the leather binding, the optical properties of handmade paper, the subtle variations in reflectivity of the ink on the page, are all important aspects of experiencing a book. And every copy of a book is a little different. If it has passed through many hands, the book becomes an artifact stimulating the reader with the faint presence of those who have perused it before. If you wish to study the history of illustrated books in depth, the bibliography provides some references to get you started.