Simon Cooke, formerly of the Universities of Birmingham and Coventry, UK, is Assistant Editor for Book Illustration and Design at The Victorian Web. Paul Goldman is Honorary Professor in the Department of English, Communication, and Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK.
'This is the first comprehensive critical assessment of George Du Maurier’s multi-faceted career as illustrator, novelist, and producer of composite image/texts. Editors Simon Cooke and Paul Goldman have brought together an impressive group of specialists in art history, literature, and periodical studies to analyze Du Maurier’s work in the context of the first mass media age. Persuasively situating Du Maurier as a major figure with a large and complex oeuvre, the essays examine what he contributed to nineteenth-century print culture in various genres of art and literature, including the interdisciplinary field of illustration studies. Mapping the continuities and disruptions in Du Maurier’s visual and verbal art, this important book also points suggestively to new areas for scholars and students to pursue. Future work on Du Maurier will be built on the collection’s foundation of archival research, critical analyses, and interdisciplinary methodologies'. Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Ryerson University, Canada