E-catalogue 63: British Romanticism

E-catalogue 63: British Romanticism

Given the impact British Romanticism had on the development of themes in American literature—the subject of our last list—it seemed an opportune time to see how printers and artists have interpreted the work of this literary movement. Once again, the range of treatment is vast, in terms of format and scope: from miniature editions of Burns, to the small folio edition of John Clare by the Tern Press; from the Center for Book Arts’ collaborative take on Blake, to Argentine artist Raul Veroni’s vision of Keats and Shelley, published in translation.

As seemingly etched in the firmament as these writers are now, one must not lose sight of how radical their ideas seemed to be at the time—nature as something to be revered, rather than exploited; the eschewing of reason for something more subjective and spiritual; and a rejection of tradition. The fact that we still grapple with these ideas three centuries later speaks to how deeply this body of writing reflects the philosophical underpinnings of human experience—and in a way that makes us stand back and take a deep breath.