Enfilade

Note from the Editor

John Evelyn, Sculptura (London, 1769), reissue of the second edition from 1755. Image from the Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company.

For me, one of the benefits of teaching comes from the fact that students’ interests tend to be contagious. I often find myself hoping that I can pass along my enthusiasm for a given topic during a lecture or class discussion, but it certainly works the other direction, too. This summer I’ve been working with a terrific research assistant, Ali Kopseng, on a project related to John Evelyn’s Sculptura (1662), a text that’s often described as the earliest history of European prints (it was reprinted in 1755). I like to think that Ali learned a lot from the experience, but she also made me care much more about the locus of her ambitions for the future: conservation. And so, several of the postings for this week address the topic. Feel free to share other eighteenth-century examples that come to mind. And thanks, Ali.

-Craig Hanson