A Brief History of Book Illustration

Book illustration has existed in some form since the advent of the written word. The tradition that has guided modern book illustration originates in western literature dating back to 15th-century block books, in which the text of a book was carved into the same block as the image. More specifically, the practice of publishing adult fiction accompanied by representational images is strongly linked with 18th- and 19th-century western literature, and the rise of the novel.
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