Notes on Pictures (Richard Benson)

It’s not often we that we offer books that are pure readers. This one is all words. But these words are by Richard Benson, the photographer, printer, and dean of the Yale School of Art. We’ve offered other heavily-illustrated books by Benson that dealt with his photography and his thoughts on prints and printing, but this one consists of background material for the final lecture of Yale’s spring 2011 DeVane lectures series on “Democratic Vistas.” It was a review of pictures that had significant cultural influence, with special attention being paid to their role in support of democracy. RARE.