![]() Now, thanks to the Folger Shakespeare Library, these images, and tens of thousands more from their Digital Image Collection, are available online. In the period Altick documents, a rapidly rising middle class drove a market for literary artworks, which were, “in effect, extensions of the books themselves: they were detached forms of book illustration, in which were constantly assimilated the literary and artistic tastes of the time.” These works took the form of humorous illustrations-such as the As You Like It-inspired satirical piece at the top from 1824-and much more serious representations, like the undated Currier & Ives Midsummer-Night’s Dream lithograph above. In one small sampling, Richard Altick notes in his extensive study Paintings from Books, that “pictures from Shakespeare accounted for about one fifth-some 2,300-of the total number of literary paintings recorded between 17” among British artists. Less discussed are the visual representations of Shakespeare in fine art and illustration, but they are multitude. ![]() Has a writer ever inspired as many adaptations and references as William Shakespeare? In the four hundred years since his death, his work has patterned much of the fabric of world literature and seen countless permutations on stage and screen.
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