Are they related? Chambers' Cyclopaedia (1728) and Biesty's Cross-sections: Man-of-war (1993)
Well, the title to this post says it all. Click on the pictures for much larger pop-up images.
Note that the Cyclopaedia was an early example of a genre that was to include the Encyclopédie of Diderot et al, and was probably its direct precursor. There is technical drawing here, various types of captioning and a generally diagrammatic approach to layout. Stephen Biesty's work is not only analogous, but seems likely to be a direct descendant.
Comments
I think part of the link is that books like that 1993 are appealing to an old-fashioned look. It's not so much nostalgia-publishing (e.g. Dangerious book for boys...) but a way of making them look classy, and sort of taking a old-school authority.
Posted by: alice | November 26, 2007 05:57 PM
Yes, that is something that ties in to the Dorling Kindersley design guidelines, that applies to a lot of their publications. Good example of rhetoric in graphic design; referencing an elegant, historical style to impart elegance and intellectual credibility.
But there is also Biesty's illustrations that reflect his particular approach to the subject, not DK brand guidelines, which are encyclopaedic in their own way… and much more cartographic than loads of other typical DK books (Eyewitness, for example, are more like photo collages!)
Posted by: Katherine | December 12, 2007 12:21 PM