“Barnhill succeeds in challenging this hierarchy with a sparkling narrative filled with facts and figures, uncovering stories that have been previously ignored or unknown . . . The book is a page-turner as well as a reference source, which fills a yawning gap in the history of American art and literature.”—Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art
"Barnhill has deep knowledge of book history, having served as a curator at the American Antiquarian Society for more than four decades . . . The book is extremely readable and does not assume prior knowledge. Highly Recommended."—CHOICE
"From woodcut relief prints to copper- and steel-plate engravings, from lithographs to mezzotints to chromolithographs, Barnhill traces why and how readers came to visualize US literature in the nineteenth century. This is a book that will remain an enduring reference for scholars of American literature and culture for decades to come."—American Literary History
"Barnhill does an excellent job tracing the slow development of publishing in the United States, from the late eighteenth century when there was a dearth of paper, ink, presses, and trained printers, as well as artists, to the late nineteenth century when all were available in abundance and American publications could compete with those of Europe."—Patricia Mainardi, author of Another World: Nineteenth-Century Illustrated Print Culture
"Gems of Art on Paper makes a very significant contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the growing use of illustrations in books published in the United States before 1885 and the great numbers of people involved.”—Sue Rainey, author of Creating a World on Paper: Harry Fenn's Career in Art
