1
25
1
-
https://ourheritage.ac.nz/files/original/457f97ffa42a24b93948eda60119b36a.jpg
df46e97e58ba5eff7f6a4d09dae05ff5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Moving to the Left: The Art and Development of the Frontispiece. Online exhibition
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Special Collections
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
December, 2017
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
What is a frontispiece? When did they first appear in print? Where do they sit in relation to the rest of a book’s contents? These are just some of the questions that this exhibition, ‘Moving to the Left: The Art and Development of the Frontispiece’, hopes to answer, with the help of just a few examples from the printed books in Special Collections, University of Otago. <br /><br />Debate surrounds the frontispiece, a word coined into the English language about the 1600s (OED). In the early print period, it seems that the frontispiece and the title-page, usually an engraved one, were treated synonymously. The convention was to often find the frontispiece on the recto page, where the title-page would normally be. Some scholars claim that the first frontispieces appeared in print in the late 15th century. Judging from samples in Special Collections, the move to the left certainly occurred before the 1750s. <br /><br />A whole host of individuals can have a hand in the creation of a frontispiece: authors, publishers, artists, engravers, etchers, and photographers. Sometimes the name of the artist and/or engraver is included. In this exhibition, there is the work of past artists and engravers such as Charles Turner, Samuel Wale, William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, William Rogers, Michael vanderGucht, and Wencelaus Hollar. Modern samples include work by Lyn Ward, Agnes Miller Parker, Wayne Seyb, and Marta Chudolinska. The binding process is also an important factor in placement of frontispieces; binders often disregarded instructions. The exhibition is grouped into various subject headings such as Christian Symbolism, Emblematics, Classical Studies, Portraits, and Moderns, among others. Notable works on display include James Howell’s <em>Londinopolis</em>; <em>An Historicall Discourse</em> (1657); John Evelyn’s <em>Sculptura</em> (1662); Robert Nelson’s <em>A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England</em> (1732); Robert Burton’s <em>The Anatomy of Melancholy</em> (1682); Edward Chamberlayne’s <em>Angliae Notitia: or the Present State of England</em> (1684); and John Milton’s <em>Paradise Lost</em> (1688). Moderns include Lewis Carroll’s <em>The Hunting of the Snark</em> (1903); Selma Lagerlöf’s <em>The Wonderful Adventures of Nils</em> (1950); and Mickey Spillane’s <em>I’ll Die Tomorrow</em> (2009). <br /><br />According to the Dutch painter and art theorist, Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), in his The Art of Painting, all frontispiece compositions should have three distinctive qualities: one, they must be pleasing to the eye; two, they must reflect well on the author and artist; and three, they must help the book-seller actually sell the book. As you make your way through the exhibition, please consider some of these aspects in the art of the frontispiece.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Special Collections, University of Otago
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Arriani Nicomedensis Expeditionis Alexandri Libri Septem et Historica Indica
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Arrian of Nicomedia]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1757
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Shoults Lb 1757 A
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Books
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[Amsterdam]: Apud Wetstenium
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
If you were lucky enough to be educated in the 18th century, Classical Studies would have featured heavily in the curriculum. Most modern-day readers of this volume of Arrian’s (1st cent. AD) <em>Anabasis</em> of Alexander the Great’s conquests (4th cent. BC) would have to resort to <em>Google</em> to decipher the imagery in the frontispiece. Victory, personified, stands upon the peoples Alexander has vanquished – the Persians, the Egyptians, the Punjabis. The scene in the distance represents his Siege of Tyre, now in Turkey. Alexander, a military genius, built a mole or pier upon which to stand his siege towers. He breached the heavily fortified walls of the castle built on the island and conquered the city-state – ‘Tyre was his [military] masterpiece’ (Cartledge, 2004).
Engravings
Frontispieces