ABSTRACT
The exhibition of sketchbooks mobilizes technical issues that are arguably different from those at play when installing a gallery of oil paintings or marble sculpture. Edward Burne-Jones used only the first half of a sketchbook now at the Harvard Art Museums, leaving the remainder in a still uncut block. A tiny book used by Frederic Leighton included a 'prepared pencil' that was inserted into the sheath attached to the book's cover. In the nineteenth century, the privacy of a sketchbook was in marked contrast to the staged presentation of the artist's studio. The self-conscious presentation of the sketchbook can be signalled by heightened awareness of the margins, signed pages, or the use of fixative to protect friable materials. Jacques-Louis David was present at the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 and at the emperor's bidding he produced an enormous painting of the elaborate ceremony. Edward Burne-Jones' sketchbook studies were probably made from small-scale replicas of the Medici tomb figures.
