Illustrated History
Cartographies Of Time A History Of The Timeline Princeton Architectural Press
You may not be able to save time in a bottle, but surely it can be laid on the line.Grab A Copy Click here Beginning with fourth-century Christian theologian Eusebius’s Chronicle, the timeline has been a mainstay for historians eager to visualize the temporal. In Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton’s scholarly yet spirited account, we can see the church father’s `image of history’ recast with increasing intricacy and decorative flourishes. If some intriguing examples require viewers to decipher minuscule type and thread through labyrinthine structures, the best are often the clearest – those comprehended almost instantly. The timeline, the authors note, comes naturally to us – we think of time as inherently spatial, as long or short, with a start and a finish. Every day, every millennium, can be paced out from one side of the page to the other, or wound in a circle, as a few of these were, in fact, originally wheel charts with moving parts. Joseph Priestly constructed `A New Chart of History’ (1769) with the intention of enlivening the march of the ages for viewers, showing them at a glance `all empires subsisting in the world’ so they might `observe which were then rising, which were flourishing, and which were upon the decline.’ While this isn’t quite history written with lightening, these charts deliver whole epochs to the eye with a swiftness that belies the myriad days they condense.
The first book, Cartographies of Time, is a heavily illustrated and comprehensive history of time maps, from tables and charts to cartographic illustration to the linear form we now associate with the word `timeline.’ In chapter one, the authors write, `Our claim is that the line is a much more complex and colorful figure than is usually thought.’ The fact that Anthony Grafton, Princeton professor and author of The Footnote (1999), is the co-author of this volume comes as no surprise. His ability to instill passion in his readers for an odd little thing like a footnote or a timeline is astonishing (much like Henry Petroski’s books about bookshelves and pencils.)
It’s definitely feeling like spring around here! We got a big box of gorgeous ceramics from Pigeon Toe (see tripod pot above) as well as our new favorite book, Cartographies of Time, plus more awesome little gifts for babies and kids. More soon as always!
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An Illustrated History of Scientology
Tags: art, books, design, history, illustrated history of landscape design, illustrated history of mankind, illustrated history of natural disasters, illustrated history of the roman empire, illustrated history of the world, illustration
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