Pictorial Archive of Woodcuts & Engravings Selected by JIM HARTER

A Pictorial Archive of Woodcuts & Engravings

Selected by

JIM HARTER

The art of music has long been pictorial as well as aural. Particularly since the inven- tion of the woodcut and its use in printing, artists have favored musical themes — players, instruments, ensembles — in illustrations which today not only con- vey the pleasure, but the history and marvelous transformations of music.

Jim Harter, artist and collagist, sifted thousands of pages of rare source material searching for music motifs and illustrations that artists, designers, professional and amateur craftpeople could use. The 841 cuts he chose are arranged in the manner of his four other topical archive collections (Women; Animals; Food and Dnnk; Men) and meet his standard of strong, clear, black-and-white line graphics of typical, unusual, and beautiful images and scenes.

Harter found many of the images in 19th-century periodicals such as the Illustrated London News, Harper’s, Leslie’s, Scientific American, Youth’s Companion and La Nature, as well as in numerous mail-order catalogues from the same period. Over 100 types of musical instruments are featured, from the earliest cithara and lyre to twelve- stringed guitars, kazoos, harmonicas and kettledrums. Instruments from different lands include a Japanese dulcimer, Indian sarangi, Chinese drum, and pipes, whistles and horns from many tribal groups on various continents. Countless musicians alone, in small bands or orchestras, play mandolins, saxophones, bassoons, tubas, xylophones, harpsichords, zithers, cymbals, flutes, fifes and many other instruments, and cavort in period dress, often with a period backdrop in full-page pictures. A series of engraved portraits show classical composers, from the Mozart family in concert to Verdi conducting one of his operas. In addition some of the scenes have been silhouet- ted; many vignettes of notes, clefs and other symbols suggest further decorative use.

In sum, the most comprehensive picture archive on music anywhere — every piece copyright-free and ready to enhance advertisements, programs, concert an- nouncements, collages and decoupages.

Original (1980) publication. 841 illustrations. Publisher’s note. 160pp. 8 3/8 x 11%. Paperbound.

A DOVER EDITION DESIGNED FOR YEARS OF USE!

We have made every effort to make this the best book possible. Our paper is opaque, with minimal show-through; it will not discolor or become brittle with age. Pages are bound in signatures, in the method traditionally used for the best books, and will not drop out. Books open flat for easy reference. The binding will not crack or split. This is a permanent book.

ALSO FROM DOVER

Copyright-free art from Dover’s Pictorial Archive Series. Unique collections of hundreds of illustrations of the topic named in the volume’s title.

MEN, Jim Harter. 412 illustrations. l28pp. 8 3/8 x 11 1/2. 23952-7 Pa.
FOOD AND DRINK, Jim Harter. Over 550 illustrations. 139pp. 8 3/8 x 11 1/2. 23816-4 Pa.
ANIMALS, Jim Harter. 1,419 illustrations. 284pp. 9 x 12. 23766-4 Pa.
WOMEN, Jim Harter. 391 illustrations. 125pp. 9 x 12. 23703-6 Pa.

ISBN 0—486—24002-9

90000 9 780486 240022

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