(print) xxvi, 527 p. : ill. ; 29 cm

Acknowledgments xxi -- Preface xxv -- Part One: The Pictures On The Walls -- Introduction 1 -- Ch. 1. The Earliest Literary Pictures: Hogarth, The Theater, And The Novel.-Ut Pictura Poesis And The Theory Of History Painting.-The Expanding Variety Of Literary Subjects Down To 1800.-Paintings From History, Fancy Pictures, Early Genre, Landscape. 11 -- Ch. 2. Eighteenth-Century Book Illustrations.-Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery.-Macklin's Poet's Gallery.-Fuselis Milton Gallery. 37 -- Ch. 3. A Period Of Lethargy (1800-1830): Ut Pictura Poesis Reinterpreted; The Disappearance Of The First Generation Of Literary Artists.-The "Fortunate Fall" Of History Painting.-The Rise Of Genre, With Subjects From Literature.-Wilkie And The Debate Over Crabbe's Realism.-Landscape And Scott. 56 -- Ch. 4. The Growing Market For Literary Paintings And The Shift Of Patronage; Pictures As Domestic Decoration.-Books Of Engravings; The Art Union.-Keepsake Beauties, Their Antecedents (Fancy Pictures, Theatrical Portraits) And Descendants, The Graphic Beauties. 71 -- Ch. 5. The Taste Of The New Collectors: Moral Content Valued Over Execution; Taboos (Nudity, "Disturbing" Subjects, Political And Social Comments).-The Tyranny Of Conventional Sources And Subjects; "Standard" Authors And "Beauties" Anthologies; The Influence Of Engravings On Popular Demand; Examples Of Neglected Subjects And Authors. 92 -- Ch. 6. Subjects Reflected From Nonliterary Art: Magic, Fairies, Sleeping Figures, Dreams, Amiable Humorists; Domestic Themes.-Suffering Women, Femmes Falales, Coquettes, The Satire Of Women.-Horses And Dogs; Shipwrecks, Captivity, Escapes And Rescues, Letter Scenes, Partings, Deaths, Trials And Supplications, "Discoveries." 111 -- Ch. 7. Subjects From Art History Generate Interest In Subjects From Literary Biography.-Paintings From The Lives Of Shakespeare, Milton, And Later Authors. 138 -- Ch. 8. Artists' Acquaintance With English Literature.-Their Adaptation Of Subjects From Older Art: The Toilet Of Venus, Alchemist, Cymon And Iphigenia, Sigismunda, Endymion, Etc.-The Westminster Palace Frescoes.-The Tension Between Artistic Tradition And The "Spirit" Of The Literary Subject. 165 -- Ch. 9. Literary Subjects And "Modern Instances."-The Use Of Literary Quotations In Exhibition Catalogues: Turner's "The Fallacies Of Hope."-Poems From Pictures. 180 -- Ch. 10. The Quality Of Art Criticism, Including Journalistic Wit.-The Demise Of Ut Pictura Poesis.-The Influence Of Preconceptions; Artists' Fidelity To The Literary Source An Occasion For Praise; Quibbles Over Departures From The Text; Invented Scenes. 196 -- Ch. 11. "Theatricality" A Leading Issue In Criticism Of Literary Paintings; The Forces Joining And Separating Art And The Stage.-Costuming And The Movement Toward Historical Authenticity.-Caricature, "Coarseness," "Vulgarity," The Desire For "Poetry."-The Death Of Leslie And The Controversy Over "Realism" In Pre-Raphaelite Pictures From Keats. 211 -- Ch. 12. The Decline Of Literary Painting: Improving Quality Of Art Criticism, The Developing Pejorative Connotation Of "Literary."-Conclusion: What Happened When People "Read" Pictures?; Various Degrees Of Understanding; The Relevance Of Literary Painting To Literary History, And Its Critical Usefulness. 234 -- Part Two: Images From Shakespeare -- Introduction 255 -- The Comedies 261 -- The History Plays 280 -- The Tragedies 294 -- The Romances 322 -- The Poetry 331 -- Part Three: The Rest Of The Gallery -- Introduction 335 -- The Middle Ages 339 -- The Elizabethan Era 346 -- The Seventeenth Century 354 -- The Eighteenth Century 380 -- The Romantic Era 422 -- The Victorian Era 449 -- Appendixes 473 -- Notes 485 -- Bibliography 509 -- Index 515