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oapen-20.500.12657-851222023-11-15T09:17:26Z Woodcuts as Reading Guides van Leerdam, Andrea history of books, woodcuts, early modern prints, history of knowledge, history of reading bic Book Industry Communication::A The arts::AK Industrial / commercial art & design::AKH Book design In the first half of the sixteenth century, the Low Countries saw the rise of a lively market for practical and instructive books that targeted non-specialist readers. This study shows how woodcuts in vernacular books on medicine and astrology fulfilled important rhetorical functions in knowledge communication. These images guided readers’ perceptions of the organisation, visualisation, and reliability of knowledge. Andrea van Leerdam uncovers the assumptions and intentions of book producers to which images testify, and shows how actual readers engaged with these illustrated books. Drawing on insights from the field of information design studies, she scrutinises the books’ material characteristics, including their lay-outs and traces of use, to shed light on the habits and interests of early modern readers. She situates these works in a culture where medicine and astrology were closely interwoven in daily life and where both book producers and readers were exploring the potential of images. 2023-11-14T15:29:22Z 2023-11-14T15:29:22Z 2024 book 9789048560257 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/85122 eng Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse boekhandel application/pdf Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International 9789048560264.pdf Amsterdam University Press dd3d1a33-0ac2-4cfe-a101-355ae1bd857a da087c60-8432-4f58-b2dd-747fc1a60025 9789048560257 Dutch Research Council (NWO) 23 482 Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research open access
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In the first half of the sixteenth century, the Low Countries saw the rise of a lively market for practical and instructive books that targeted non-specialist readers. This study shows how woodcuts in vernacular books on medicine and astrology fulfilled important rhetorical functions in knowledge communication. These images guided readers’ perceptions of the organisation, visualisation, and reliability of knowledge. Andrea van Leerdam uncovers the assumptions and intentions of book producers to which images testify, and shows how actual readers engaged with these illustrated books. Drawing on insights from the field of information design studies, she scrutinises the books’ material characteristics, including their lay-outs and traces of use, to shed light on the habits and interests of early modern readers. She situates these works in a culture where medicine and astrology were closely interwoven in daily life and where both book producers and readers were exploring the potential of images.
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