Giovanni Stringa]]> Books]]> Vikings of the Sunrise was his most popular book, which he researched and wrote while working as director of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Hawaii.]]> Peter H. Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa)]]> Books]]> Charles Patin]]> Books]]> Travels to China (1804) recount an early Western visit to that country, but it is also the first book on China to be illustrated by aquatint, a process that gives tonal effects to an image, like a wash of watercolour. William Alexander, also a member of the expedition, drew the portrait of ‘Van-ta-gin’ that forms this very colourful frontispiece. It was engraved by Thomas Medland (c.1765–1833), who also executed the other four aquatint illustrations in the book.]]> John Barrow]]> Books]]> The Wonderful Adventures of Nils is one in a long tradition. It also carries a common feature in modern-day frontispieces: the printing of a small portion of text with a page number that references the image to where it (the action) occurs in the text.]]> Selma Lagerlöf]]> Books]]> The Times, purchased a patent for a new method of printing from logotypes (i.e. founts of words or portions of words, instead of letters), and printed this 1785 edition of Robinson Crusoe using this method. The frontispiece he commissioned for it is an important one, because it was the first instance of the elevation of this classic scene to frontispiece status (Blewett, 1986). Drawn by the Boston-born Mather Brown (1761–1831), the image was engraved by Robert Pollard (1755–1838), an English engraver and painter who specialised in naval and sea-battle scenes.]]> Daniel Defoe]]> Books]]> H. G. Wells]]> Books]]> Theory of the Earth ‘initiated a lively tradition of scientific treatises on the origins of the earth’. First published in Latin in 1681, the frontispiece, here, appeared in the 1684 English translation. The image was included, albeit modified, in all subsequent editions; and as Magruder says is ‘so effective a summary….that his [Burnet’s] views frequently are described simply by reference to this engraving’ (2008). Here we see Jesus Christ standing atop seven globes, clockwise they each represent a stage in Earth’s development. Earth in chaos; Earth as perfect, featureless; Earth in the Great Flood, with the Ark; Earth as we know it; Earth in conflagration; Earth perfect again; and finally Earth has become a star.]]> [Thomas Burnet]]]> Books]]> Life and Works helped increase their popularity and they worked with famous, contemporary artist, J.M.W. Turner.]]> ___]]> Books]]> The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym has provided the British-born artist, David Lupton, an opportunity to indulge. He has admitted to a love for melancholy and the macabre, something that Poe’s tale certainly offers. Again the frontispiece stands alone, with an ‘Illustrations’ list in the preliminary pages that not only gives the page number of where the action takes place, but also gives a portion of the text that presumably the artist worked from to create the image.]]> Edgar Allan Poe]]> Books]]> The Mirror of Perfection contains the teachings of St Francis of Assisi (13th century), the writing of which is attributed to his disciple and close companion, Brother Leo. One legend associated with St Francis is the ‘conversion of the wolf of Gubbio’, and it is this legend that informs the frontispiece to this edition. As the story goes, a wolf was terrorising and eating the inhabitants of the Umbrian town of Gubbio. St Francis commanded the wolf, in the name of God, to stop, which he did. In exchange for his compliance, the inhabitants were to feed the wolf every day for the rest of its life, which they did. The engraving for this image is after an unpublished drawing by English artist and set designer, Charles Ricketts (1866-1931).]]> [Brother Leo]]]> Books]]> ___]]> Books]]> Tristam Shandy, Laurence Sterne has the ‘hero’ quote from William Hogarth’s Analysis of Beauty (1753). Obviously delighted with Hogarth’s work, Sterne wrote a letter: ‘I would give both my Ears…for no more than ten Strokes of Howgarth’s witty Chissel, to clap at the front of my next Edition of Shandy.’ In the second edition (1760), Hogarth’s image of Trim reading the sermon appeared as a frontispiece with reference to the text at ‘Vol. 2, page 128.’ In this edition of 1782, the text reference has gone, leaving only the succinct ‘Frontispiece. Vol. I’ at top; no doubt a helpful reminder to the binder. Joseph Collyer (1748–1827) engraved this image; the first was done by Simon François Ravenet (1706- 1764), one of Hogarth’s assistants.]]> Laurence Sterne]]> Books]]> Edward Kimber]]> Books]]> Hunting of the Snark (first published in 1876) contains illustrations by celebrated American artist Peter Newell (1862-1924). Newell mainly worked for Harper & Brothers Publishers (think Harper’s Bazaar), but was also well known for his comics, and writing and illustrating children’s books. Newell is in good company with the other famous illustrators of Carroll’s works, John Tenniel (1820-1914) for Alice, and Henry Holiday (1839-1927) for The Hunting of the Snark.]]> Lewis Carroll]]> Books]]> Samuel Gale]]> Books]]> Description and Use is described as a ‘puff’ piece that was written for orrery, globe, and instrument manufacturer, Thomas Wright in the mid-18th century. Fundamentally, the book is an instruction manual on how to use your orrery or globe. Fortuitously you can buy one – as depicted in the frontispiece – from Wright’s apprentice and successor, Benjamin Cole (1695-1766). At the rear of the book is a list of items available for purchase at Cole’s ‘Orrery, near the Globe Tavern, in Fleet-street’.]]> Joseph Harris]]> Books]]> Rufinus]]> Books]]> Book of Household Management: ‘The coloured plates are a novelty not without value.’ This colourful lithographic frontispiece depicting cherries, apricots and peaches, grapes, oranges, and other such delectables, conveys at least the food side of her 1861 classic. As seen from the sub-titles on the title-page opposite the frontispiece, the book also contains information ranging from the ‘cook’, ‘valet’, and ‘maid-of-all-work’, to ‘sanitary, medical and legal memoranda.’]]> Isabella Beeton]]> Books]]> The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, a mix of Gothic-like stories centred round fairy and folk tales that first appeared in 1979. Igor Karash, who studied book design and illustration at Kharkov State Art & Design Academy in Ukraine, won the second House of Illustration/Folio Society Illustration Award. In the title’s story The Bloody Chamber, one finds a sinister Bluebeard luring his bride to his castle. The text that spurred Karash on to provide this frontispiece image reads: ‘He stripped me, gourmand that he was, as if he were stripping the leaves off an artichoke.’]]> Angela Carter]]> Books]]> ___]]> Books]]> Argonautics is a frontispiece – it is labelled as such. The scene most probably depicts Jason leaving Queen Hypsipyle and the island of Lemnos. The engraving from the artwork of one ‘W. Hamilton’ is by Charles Grignion (1721-1810). After training in Paris and London, Grignion embarked upon a career as an historical artist and engraver. His early style is characterised as ‘energetic’, ‘elegant’, ‘bold’ and original’; the ODNB describes him as having a ‘light draughtsmanlike style in the French tradition’. Engraving well into his 80s, Grignion’s style suffered with old age and he died in poverty. Despite this, he is thought to be the ‘Father and Founder of the English School of Engraving’.]]> Francis Fawkes]]> Books]]> Anatomy of Melancholy (1628) lacks the explanatory poem, here is the 1866 printed version, offering descriptions and meanings to many of the emblems and symbols used: e.g. Frame II: Jealousy, including a kingfisher and a swan.]]> Robert Burton]]> Pamphlets]]> Anatomy was written to get Burton out of a bout of depression. The work also contained a poem explaining the ‘frontispiece’, which was engraved by Christian Le Blon. The engraver must have known Burton’s intricate text well, because each of the ten panels depict symbols and emblems that relate closely to the content.]]> Robert Burton]]> Books]]> Supplication of Saints, an extremely popular devotional aid containing a meditation on Christ’s life, death, and passion. Because the book contains prayers by Queen Elizabeth, a frontispiece image of her is attached. While many pictures of good Queen Bess aimed to reflect her agelessness, or contained associated symbols, like the rose, this particular woodcut is rather primitive. Its use in this late 17th century publication is at odds with some of the more sumptuous frontispiece illustrations extant from the Elizabethan times onwards.]]> Thomas Sorocold]]> Books]]>