Portret van boekverkoper William West 1835 - 1837

This is a lithograph of William West, bookseller, drawn on stone by S. West. The process of lithography is key to understanding this image. It involves drawing on a flat stone surface with a greasy crayon, then treating the stone so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas, before printing. The delicate gradations of tone that you see here are characteristic of the medium, allowing for a remarkable likeness to be captured. Consider the social context: this was an era when the printed image was becoming increasingly accessible, a reflection of a growing reading public and the rise of mass media. The book trade was booming, and figures like William West were central to this cultural shift. Lithography itself was an integral part of this, offering a relatively quick and affordable way to reproduce images and texts. It democratized image production, marking a shift in the relationship between labor, technology, and the dissemination of knowledge. This portrait reminds us that even seemingly straightforward images are the product of complex technical and social processes.