The Moxon Tennyson

“Well-researched and highly readable, Cooke’s richly illustrated book harmonizes two schools of illustration, deftly examines image and word, and skillfully reads the conventional and innovative aspects of Tennyson’s poetry, making a significant contribution to the growing field of illustration studies.” -- Catherine J. Golden, author of Serials to Graphic Novels: The Evolution of the Victorian Illustrated Book
“Lavishly illustrated, The Moxon Tennyson by Simon Cooke makes important contributions to studies of Tennyson, print culture, and Victorian visuality. Cooke challenges prior scholarship’s focus on Tennyson’s Pre-Raphaelite illustrators, instead including all Tennyson’s illustrators in his illuminating, interactive assessment of poetry, printing, and Victorian art in this 1857 publishing landmark.” -- Linda K. Hughes, coeditor of Replication in the Long Nineteenth Century: Re-makings and Reproductions
“Simon Cooke focuses his very considerable erudition concerning Victorian illustration in this new book-length study of the Moxon Tennyson of 1857. Eschewing traditional interpretations of the Moxon Tennyson as a landmark of Pre-Raphaelite illustration, Cooke argues for a shared idiom among the eight artist collaborators. The five chapters of the book provide lenses for refractions of this argument, culminating in Cooke’s claim that the Moxon Tennyson was a ‘workshop of new creative attitudes for book illustration’ and a turning point in the history of illustration itself. Throughout this study, Cooke’s deep knowledge of book production and illustrative techniques shines, as does his clearly written prose. Lavishly illustrated, this edition generously reproduces many of the illustrations that underpin Cooke’s detailed argument.” -- Lisa Surridge, University of Victoria
“Cooke succeeds in challenging accepted views and informatively reconsiders the Moxon Tennyson as an integrated whole, rather than the sum of its supposedly incompatible parts.” * Journal of Victorian Culture *
“[Simon] Cooke has given us a penetrating study which shows that the [Moxon Tennyson] is not merely a ‘landmark in Victorian Illustration’ but something far greater and indeed a central creation of English Literature and art that moves it far beyond its historical context.” -- Paul Goldman * Victorian Web *
A massive accomplishment...Having spent a great deal of time conducting research into the Moxon Tennyson, learning about its history and rummaging through archives, Cooke has reopened the conversation about the Moxon Tennyson as a ‘Landmark in Victorian Illustration’, yet this time by telling the story anew. * Publishing History *
The Moxon Tennyson should remain essential reading for scholars of visual art, poetry, and the history of the book. * Victorian Studies *