Title Page to Thomas Blount, The Academy of Eloquence

Faithorne’s engraving employs fine line work to render the delicate faces within the ovals and the drapery of the 17th‑century attire. The central winged child, a common personification of learning, holds a banner bearing the book’s title, integrating text and image in a balanced, symmetrical composition typical of mid‑17th‑century frontispieces.

Created in the mid‑1650s, the print was produced for the first edition of Blount’s treatise on rhetoric. Faithorne, a leading English engraver of the period, supplied the illustration, linking the work to the broader market for scholarly publications in Restoration England.

The inclusion of both classical and contemporary figures reflects the 17th‑century humanist project of aligning modern English letters with ancient models. By presenting Bacon and Sidney alongside Demosthenes and Cicero, the frontispiece underscores the continuity of rhetorical education across centuries.