by H.A. Carruthers, published by Pen and Sword originally in 2014, but Tom Holberg informs me that it will be reprinted in October. Clocks in at 181 pages and is loaded with 90 19th Century artworks, all of which are full-page, and in color. It is chronological in nature, beginning at Toulon and progressing to the Retour des Cendres. This is one of the first works to deal with multiple First Empire artists from an international perspective.
I do have some bones to pick with this volume, however. The first is the choice of the artworks. Although the author had to fit the works to the chronology, certain artists tend to be overrepresented (Vernet, Myrbach, Butler, Vereshchagin) while others are unaccountably excluded. Since all of these images came from the internet and are in the public domain, rights were not an issue.
Another problem is that the images are of varying quality, depending on their download. I know this for a fact. None of them have been processed for image quality. It would have taken little effort to improve the look of the images before publication.
Finally, attribution is a problem. The difference between Carle and Horace Vernet (father and son) seems to have eluded our author. I can handle Henri Felix Emmanuel Philippoteux as an attribution, but not F. de Myrbach or P. Rosen. Many of the paintings are also mistitled.
I noticed this sloppy oversight and less than professional graphics/paintings/drawings, as well as faulty attribution to become almost endemic for Pen & Sword. As their prices for books have increased, their quality has plummeted.I doubt a "reprint" will rescue this particular volume.
I am surprised that such books even get a re print.
by H.A. Carruthers, published by Pen and Sword originally in 2014, but Tom Holberg informs me that it will be reprinted in October. Clocks in at 181 pages and is loaded with 90 19th Century artworks, all of which are full-page, and in color. It is chronological in nature, beginning at Toulon and progressing to the Retour des Cendres. This is one of the first works to deal with multiple First Empire artists from an international perspective.
I do have some bones to pick with this volume, however. The first is the choice of the artworks. Although the author had to fit the works to the chronology, certain artists tend to be overrepresented (Vernet, Myrbach, Butler, Vereshchagin) while others are unaccountably excluded. Since all of these images came from the internet and are in the public domain, rights were not an issue.
Another problem is that the images are of varying quality, depending on their download. I know this for a fact. None of them have been processed for image quality. It would have taken little effort to improve the look of the images before publication.
Finally, attribution is a problem. The difference between Carle and Horace Vernet (father and son) seems to have eluded our author. I can handle Henri Felix Emmanuel Philippoteux as an attribution, but not F. de Myrbach or P. Rosen. Many of the paintings are also mistitled.