The use of images as evidence in historical writing has been largely neglected by historians, though recent interest in the importance of visualization in scientific literature has led to a reappraisal of their value. In Drawn from Life, Victoria Dickenson uncovers a vast pictorial tradition of 'scientific illustration' that reveals how artists and writers, from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century portrayed the natural history and landscape of North America to European readers.
Dickenson undertakes a close reading of the images created by European artists, most of whom had never seen North America, and unravels the threads that linked the images to the curiosities and specimens that reached the Old World. Drawing on a wide range of illustrations - woodblock prints, engravings, watercolours, and maps - she examines several important issues regarding the nature of imagery: the tension between naturalistic representation and stylistic conventionalism; the role of the medium used in creating the image (especially the rise of printmaking); the historically changing function of images; and the need to consider historical context in 'reading' such pictures.
While many contemporary artists claimed that their work was 'drawn from life,' their images were, in fact, also works of the imagination. Drawn from Life is an illustrated archaeology of the imagination that allows readers to see North America as Cartier, Champlain, and early naturalists perceived.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 502.2/2
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9781442674103 0802042252
- LCCN
- Q222
- LCCN Item number
- D52 1998eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOTU
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xvi, 320 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00600503 (OCoLC)666911946 (CaOOCEL)417847
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOTU
Table of Contents
- CONTENTS 6
- LIST OF PLATES 10
- PREFACE 14
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 16
- Introduction: The Bittern from Hudson's-Bay 24
- Chapter 1: Emblematic Animals 40
- Glimpses of the New World: Early Maps of North America 45
- Marks and Emblems: Claiming a New World 50
- Words into Pictures: The Su, the Bison, and the Simivulpa 55
- Chapter 2: Naturalism and the Counterfeit of Nature 66
- The Development of Naturalism 67
- The Representation as Counterfeit 72
- Translating the Image: The Value of Repeated Pictorial Statement 75
- Chapter 3: The Living Image 90
- Cornut and the Canadensium Plantarum 99
- The Herbal Tradition 102
- The Sea of Simples 107
- The Book of God's Works: The Garden in Print 113
- Cornut and Charlevoix 120
- Chapter 4: The Redefinition of Landscape 126
- ... a vast and prodigious Cadence of Water 126
- The Conventions of Landscape 132
- The Deer Park 136
- The Imposition of Order 147
- Meta Incognita 158
- Chapter 5: The Classification of the Visible: Part One 162
- The Classical Tradition 163
- The Exploration of the New World 167
- The Importance of Preservation 174
- Chapter 6: The Classification of the Visible: Part Two 184
- Copiers of Nature 184
- 'The Invention of the Present Age' 190
- The Universal Language 199
- Truth and Observation 201
- Chapter 7: A Country Observed 210
- No extravagant wonders ... 212
- Animated Nature 222
- Joseph Banks and the Cook Expeditions 227
- The First Franklin Overland Expedition, 1819–1822 232
- Conclusion: Drawing and Nature 248
- Notions of Nature 249
- The Role of Drawing 252
- Chronology 257
- Dominant Purpose 260
- Context 261
- Cognitive Anchorage 263
- NOTES 266
- BIBLIOGRAPHY 300
- CREDITS 322
- INDEX 324
- A 324
- B 325
- C 327
- D 328
- E 330
- F 330
- G 331
- H 332
- I 333
- J 334
- K 334
- L 334
- M 335
- N 336
- O 337
- P 337
- Q 338
- R 338
- S 339
- T 340
- U 340
- V 340
- W 341
- Z 341
