Enfilade

‘Adorn’d with Cuts’: The Illustrated Book in the Long Eighteenth Century
Chawton House Library, Chawton, Hampshire, 14 May 2010

Over 400 years old, Chawton House once belonged to the brother of Jane Austen. The novelist herself lived nearby from 1807 until 1817, just before her death. The Chawtwon House Library sponsors a series of academic events and fellowships.

Growing interest among scholars from a range of disciplines has opened up debate about the partnership of image and text in the eighteenth century and its place in the flourishing print culture of the period. This one-day conference at Chawton House Library draws together different approaches to book illustration in order to consider the production, purpose and interpretation of images in books of this date. A number of the library’s most intriguing illustrated texts will be on display for the duration of the event. Speakers will include:

• John Feather, who will consider text and image in the eighteenth century from the perspective of the historian of the book
• Brian Alderson, who will examine continuity and change in Aesopic imagery prior to Thomas Bewick’s engravings to The Select Fables of Aesop in 1818
• Ann Lewis, who will discuss text and image in illustrated editions of Rousseau’s Julie ou La Nouvelle Héloïse

To register for the conference, please contact Chawton House Library, info@chawton.net.