Print Culture in Early Modern France
Abraham Bosse and the Purposes of Print

Goldstein examines the print culture of seventeenth-century France through a study of Abraham Bosse, a well-known printmaker, illustrator and author.

Carl Goldstein (Author)

9781107012141, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 February 2012

238 pages, 60 b/w illus.
26 x 18.4 x 1.4 cm, 0.67 kg

'Bosse was 'a consummate print professional' who was remarkable for 'his persistent and sustained interrogation of the seemingly endless possibilities of print' … this monograph goes beyond an assessment of the work of one Huguenot artist to look at his wider significance for the print culture of early modern France.' The Huguenot Society Journal

In this book, Carl Goldstein examines the print culture of seventeenth-century France through a study of the career of Abraham Bosse, a well-known printmaker, book illustrator, and author of books and pamphlets on a variety of technical subjects. The consummate print professional, Bosse persistently explored the endless possibilities of print – single-sheet prints combining text and image, book illustration, broadsides, placards, almanacs, theses, and pamphlets. Bosse had a profound understanding of print technology as a fundamental agent of change. Unlike previous studies, which have largely focused on the printed word, this book demonstrates the extent to which the contributions of an individual printmaker and the visual image are fundamental to understanding the nature and development of early modern print culture.

1. A printmaking revolution
2. Scenes of everyday life
3. Drama, theater, and prints
4. Contingencies and contradictions
5. A royal portrait
6. Image and text: reading single-sheet prints
7. Book illustrations
8. Books and pamphlets.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]