As part of his sabbatical research agenda, Professor Engel will work with rare materials at The Huntington Library (and later this semester at The Newberry Library in Chicago), on his current book project, At the Limits of the Visible: Cognitive Ecologies in the Premodern Paperworld. Dr. Engel's presentation is entitled:
“Entering ‘The Mind of the Frontispiece’: Mnemonic Cues and the Jacobean Visual Imaginary”
Using five rare books from The Huntington Library’s collection, William E. Engel examines and discloses the extent to which mnemonic features are carefully and self-referentially designed to direct and enhance the reader's experience of the work before their gaze. The early modern book trade favored and refined architectural tropes to add luster–and marketability–to books of consequence, resulting in a host of recognizable frontispiece sub-genres. This talk concerns the display of the bimodal visual and verbal wit calculated to invite, engage, and induce readers to participate in the extreme interiority afforded by the visual hermeneutics associated with long-established mnemotechnical principles.
If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area and want to attend, please click here for time and venue details: https://huntingtonlibrary.libcal.com/event/11939773?hs=a
Find out more about Professor Engel's teaching and research here.
