Sanctioned by France’s Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and struck primarily in order to disseminate the works of the Academy’s members, the eighteenth-century fine art print flourished only briefly. Yet it set into motion the interdependence of graphic and pictorial media.

In The Rise and Fall of the Fine Art Print in Eighteenth-Century France, W. McAllister Johnson distills a lifetime of research into an essential study of this seminal phenomenon and chronicles the issues, decisions, and practicalities inherent in making copperplate engravings as articles of art and commerce. His exceptional erudition makes this an unparalleled resource for the study of visual culture and of all aspects of printmaking before the French Revolution.

W. McAllister Johnson is a professor emeritus in the Department of Art at the University of Toronto. His most recent book is Versified Prints: A Literary and Cultural Phenomenon.

W. McAllister Johnson's profile page

‘This monograph is recommended highly for library collections in academic institutions and museums.’

The Art Libraries Society of North America Reviews January 2017

‘Highly recommended.’

Choice, vol 54:04:2016

"This book’s clear style and helpful illustrations make it engaging for specialists and non-specialists alike…This book offers an insightful and valuable account of how the alphabet has been understood historically, from the Greeks to the present day, and in contrast to other writing systems."

University of Toronto Quarterly, vol 87 3, Summer 2018