This seminar will examine the ways in which images in early modern books participated in the production and circulation of knowledge ca. 1450–1800. Although during this period visual materials played central roles in books and in knowledge practices, the visual component of early modern books has often been neglected by the history of the book as a field. Twelve to sixteen scholars whose work intersects with a number of related fields will be selected to participate. Topics of discussion may include: comparisons across graphic-rich genres such as natural history, cartography, medicine, ethnography, antiquarianism, and historical accounts; the various types of work that images performed, including evidentiary, emblematic, allegorical, illustrative, and ornamental; images in printed versus manuscript books; the relationships between images, texts, and objects; the artistic and artisanal practices, materials, and techniques used to create images; the spaces and people involved in making and interpreting images; trust and mistrust of images in books; and the roles that images played in mediating cultural encounters between Western and non-Western cultures and traditions. Participants will engage with an exhibition curated by Caroline Duroselle-Melish, Folger Curator of Books and Prints, illustrating this rich and diverse visual history through the Folger collection of prints and engravings.