Copley | Copley

At a glance:

Author: Elizabeth Ripley
First Published: 1967
Time of Work: 1748–1815
Setting: Boston, New York, England, France, Italy, Germany, and Flanders
Principal Characters: John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Pelham, Henry Pelham, Captain Bruce, Benjamin West, Susanna Clarke Copley, Richard Clarke, Elizabeth Copley, George III, John Copley
Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
Subjects: Traveling or travelers, Art or artists, American Revolution, Eighteenth century, London, Painting or painters, Biography, Portraits
Locales: France, Boston, MA, New York, England, Germany, Italy, Flanders

Form and Content

Elizabeth Ripley’s Copley: A Biography is like a walk through a museum. The oversized book features thirty-six black-and-white photographs of many of Copley’s major paintings. The paintings occupy the book’s right-hand pages, with captions recording the title, date of composition, canvas size, and owner or holding museum. On the left is a running narrative of Copley’s life that is laid out to correspond with the continuing parade of paintings.

The story of Copley’s life is told in a simple and unadorned fashion. Ripley employs neither...

Copley | Copley

At a glance:

Form and Content

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