Boekverkoper en een schrijver 1802 - 1807

This print, titled "Boekverkoper en een schrijver", was made by Thomas Rowlandson using pen and ink and watercolor. The artist has built up the scene with fine lines of ink, before adding translucent washes of color. Rowlandson was primarily a caricaturist, and here his target is the business of books. The bookseller, portly and self-satisfied, embodies the commercial side of the enterprise. The author, by contrast, is all nervous energy. The books themselves are rendered as physical commodities, stacked high on shelves, tools of the trade. The print medium itself speaks to the rise of a market economy in the 18th century. Prints like this one, produced in multiples and widely distributed, helped to create a public sphere, where ideas and images could circulate freely. As with any work of art, attention to these details of making, and the broader contexts of production, can deepen our appreciation.