The medieval manuscripts combine illustra tion by means of miniatures with the decoration of the page in a very wonderful way. (See MAN I sciarrs, ILLUMINATION OF.) With the revival of learning in Italy, the painting of miniatures became very much more elaborate as an art, and some of these miniatures of early time are fin ished pictures with background, distance, and everything that a modern landscape or genre picture has. except cast, shadows. Even the shadows appear toward the close of the fifteenth century. with the shadows comes the end of illumination considered as a separate art. The famous Breriario Griznani is, however, without shadows, and vet is dated at the very close of the fifteenth century; and the borders which Albert Diirer drew for the margins of the printed book called Maximilian's Prayer Book, and which were executed in 1515, have their elaborate groups of busy little figures drawn without traceable or c.utlined shadows, although the figures may be partly relieved on n dark shading.
With the earliest printed books come the ear liest wood-engravings, which are of exclusively nitistie character. The lltypncrotounaglia of the se-ealled Poliphilo (Francisco Colonna), printed in 1499, has large and very open drawings, some times filling nearly the whole of a small folio page. The Epistles of Saint Jerome, of 1497, has a great number of small illustrations, not larger than a lady's visiting card, but full of character and containing sometimes a dozen figures boldly drawn and skillfully grouped. The several il lustrated editions of the Ilirine Comedy of Dante, of which perhaps the earliest is of 1497, have woodcuts and illustrations also in outline. Dur ing the next century this same tendency to simple and rather formal illustration, in outline except for sonic arbitrary shading. continues: and it. is not to be doubted that the expeetation was that band coloring would be called in to complete these designs. Books, with their pictures elabo rately colored by hand, remain to us from this epoch. In the National Library in Paris a spe cial permanent exhibition of these is maintained. The constant reprinting of the early books tended to preserve the abstract and simple character of illustration, and it is not until the middle of the sixteenth century. with the copper engraved plates illustrating the different manuals of sword-play. and the delicate little woodcuts il lustrating the Old Testament. and the "Dance of Death" ascribed to Holbein. that a freer style
is introdueed. Entire freedom in drawing. for wood - engraving, came slowly; even Albert Dfirer's work is largely confined to outline, and single plates of the "Apocalypse" and the "Life of Mary" arc found elaborately painted in water color, and touched with gold. lint with the last quarter of the sixteenth century complete light and shade is sought for, as in the woodcuts ascribed to Jost Ammaii, published by Feyera bend of Frankfort, and those of VeceIlia, dated 1590. In the seventeenth century were published curious books of history and topography, some times adorned with crowded battle pieces, or, like the curious history of the wars between England, France, and the United Provinces, with views of sea-fights, minutely engraved on copper, and effective enough in a black and crowded Nvny. One of these pictures shows the great fire of Lon don in 1666. the book being printed two years later. The books published by Alatthaus Merian of Frankfort with the admirable views of Ger man cities are of this time: and Wenceslaus Dol lar began his wonderful career of simple and perfect work as nn engraver in \lerian's employ. Book illustration was, however, feeble during the hundred years from 1650 to 1750, and the French Lirres d 'Vignette mentioned above are remark able in spite of their inadequaey as helping to restore the art. Wood-engraving was revived in the course of the eighteenth century, and as early as 1775 Thomas Bewick produced his il lustrations of ..Esop's Fables, and his natural history books, the Quadrupeds and the Itirds; the little narrative drawings serving as tail pieces to the chapters of the quadrupeds forming the most important step in book illustration which bad been made for n century-.
The great modern movement in book illustra tion begins about 1830 with the woodcuts made for French classics, such as and Bernar din de Saint-Pierre; and in England with the earliest books illustrated by Cruikshank. The work of liowlandson. ending as Cruikshank be gan, must have influenced him greatly at first, but Cruikshank soon worked out of the exag gerated and purely farcical manner which the earlier artist retained to his death, and became an excellent illustrator of books, keeping up his full power until an advanced age. his work ex ists in great abundance in woodcut, and also in a simple kind of etching, in which last process he was followed and surpassed as to technical ex cellence by John Leech.