Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literature

Extract

The history of illustration ranges from ancient Egyptian papyrus to twenty-first-century computer-generated images. Illustrations accompany religious texts, works of nonfiction, poetry, and narrative prose fiction, but the illustrated novel developed in the eighteenth century, primarily in France and England, and reached its height in the nineteenth century. The term illustrated novel refers to an extended narrative with multiple images that, together with the text, produce meaning. Therefore, the illustrated novel is not a work graced by a single decorated cover or frontispiece. Yet certain novels remain intertwined with a particular frontispiece or cover design. The interdisciplinary nature of illustrated novels recognizes the difficulty of determining what constitutes a “novel” or an “illustration,” and thus it fuels a variety of critical approaches including, but not limited to, reception studies, art history, cultural studies, bibliographical studies, and semiotic analysis. Although illustrator and author often collaborated over the original text and illustrations, subsequent editions contain illustrations an author may or may not have endorsed. Some authors illustrated their own work, and some novels had multiple illustrators. The form lost its appeal in the twentieth century as illustration flourished in children's literature and migrated to the luxury book market. Nevertheless, ... log in or subscribe to read full text