The Birth of the Modern Book: Re-Reading Vollard's Livres d'Artistes (thesis)

Abstract

It is my contention that Ambroise Vollard's livres d'artistes are not "mere" illustrated books, as Drucker would have it. Instead they are true artists' books in which the literary and the visual interact to create a more insightful overall experience for the reader/viewer. The livre d'artiste projects of Editions Vollard reveal, though to varying degrees, their creators' awareness of issues of semiotics and ideology inherent to the book itself.