Mr. Collier's Letter Racks: A Tale of Art and Illusion at the Threshold of the Modern Information Age

284 Pages·2012·19.33 MB·English

by  Dror Wahrman

Mr. Collier’s Letter Racks

Mr. Collier’s
Letter Racks
• • y • •
A TALE OF ART & ILLUSION
AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE
MODERN INFORMATION AGE
Dror Wahrman

3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wahrman, Dror.
Mr. Collier’s letter racks : a tale of art and illusion at
the threshold of the modern information age / Dror Wahrman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-973886-1
1. Collier, Edward, 17th cent.—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Trompe l’oeil painting—Netherlands.
3. Art and society—Netherlands—History—17th century.
4. Newspapers in art. I. Title. II. Title: Mister Collier’s letter racks.
ND653.C56W34 2012
759.9492—dc23 2011042929
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in China
on acid-free paper
For my father, Jacob Wahrman,
who would have loved this story
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Contents
Introduction : Puzzles 3
1 Print 2.0 c. 1700: A New Media Regime 1 9
2 Life Not Still 3 1
3 Th e Nature of Print 4 9
4 Marking Time 6 7
5 Monarchy in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 8 5
6 Eye Con 1 01
7 A Man with an Impossible Temper 1 17
8 Tom, Dick, and Henry 1 31
9 Th e Collier Club? 157
10 Death of the Author? 1 67
11 Which Revolution? or, Th e Memory of Mr. Lory 181
12 A Signature Gone Wild 2 09
Epilogue 2 27
Notes 2 33
Acknowledgments 257
List of Illustrations 261
Index 2 67
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Mr. Collier’s Letter Racks