Watts/Iconic Books, 9. The Tell-Tale Iconic Book

This chapter draws on the images from sixteenth-century publications in the Digital Image Archive to explore how books are used in printed images related to biblical interpretation. The investigation finds that images of books are used: (1) to indicate authorship of biblical works; (2) to defend the orthodoxy of later writers; (3) to affirm the learning, piety, and social standing of certain writers, saints, and other figures from antiquity; (4) to contend that the message and ministries of certain biblical figures were based on Scripture; and (5) to link antiquity with the Early Modern period.