“Necessary Tables of Most Usefull Consequence”: Graphic Devices and Title Page Promotion in Early Modern English Print

Abstract

<p>This essay investigates how graphic devices—such as tables, diagrams, and images—were referenced on the title pages of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English printed books, and how these references functioned as promotional tools. While explicit mentions of text-internal graphic devices were relatively rare, they were habitually accompanied by evaluative, quantitative, or content-based modifiers emphasizing the novelty, utility, or aesthetic value of the graphic devices within. The term “table” was by far the most frequently used of the nouns studied, largely due to its prevalence in almanacs. The study demonstrates that references to graphic devices were not merely descriptive but served to market the book’s informational and aesthetic appeal, reflecting the broader trends in Early Modern English marketing of the printed book.</p>