Oscar Wilde's decorated books / Nicholas Frankel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frankel, Nicholas, 1962-

Series:

Editorial theory and literary criticism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900.

Wilde, Oscar.

Book design--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Book design.

Illustration of books--Great Britain--19th century.

Illustration of books.

Criticism, Textual.

History.

Great Britain.

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Criticism, Textual.

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Illustrations.

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Bibliography.

Genre:

Bibliographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 222 pages, 4 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2000]

Summary:

Oscar Wilde's Decorated Books addresses Wilde's obsession with the visual appearance or "look" of his published writings. It examines the role played by graphic designers in the production of Wilde's writings and demonstrates how marginal and decorative elements of the printed book affect interpretation.

Nicholas Frankel approaches Wilde's writings as graphical or "printed" phenomena that reveal their significance through the beautiful and elaborate decorations with which they were published in Wilde's own lifetime. With extensive reference to and exposition on Wilde's theoretical writings and letters, the author shows that, far from being marginal elements of the literary text, these decorative devices were central to Wilde's understanding of his own writings as well as to his "aesthetic" theory of language. Extensive illustrations support Frankel's arguments.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-216) and index.

ISBN:

0472110691

OCLC:

42934496