Opposed Images on Behalf of the War. An approach to the “Beautifully Illustrated Book” in the 19th Century in México

Abstract

The following lines will analyse The War between the United States and Mexico Karl Nebel, a “beautifully illustrated book” inspired in the American intervention in Mexican territory between 1846 and 1848, that, with its own goals and desires, offers several points of view, some of them adventurous. In that sense, we will explore the socio-political reasons, although the book is basically reviewed as a paratext, its receptions and lectures, deliberating -from the start- that the image in an edition also writes internal as well as external languages (complex and overwhelming). The present essay pretexts some of the contributions of male Humboldt in printed matter as well as the contribution and influence it had on the work of “community artists” who toured Mexico during the 19th century. This pretext aims to contextualize and situate The War between the United States and Mexico of Karl Nebel, as nodal work for both countries in beautifully illustrated books. But how do painting and literature coexist in the same space? Apparently, they always do it in constant struggle, according to the work, the artist and writer, are favourable to each other. In this case, the image is just the queen who demands literature to underscore her speech, at the same time that it symbolises the role of the image that can be analysed, studied and interpreted, just as other categories.