Book Description

Excerpt from Masks, Heads, and Faces: With Some Considerations Respecting the Rise and Development of Art The progress of the development of the human intellect is marked by inventions that may be compared in the history of mankind to numerous mile-stones, showing in the perspective of years the way by which men have arrived at the present conditions of civilization. And the far-reaching significance of these inventions, the ever-lessening mile-stones of human endeavor which reach out to the very horizon of primitive life, can be only gauged retrospectively. In the history of the rise and development of art the student retraces the steps of men, noting at last the first concepts that led to expression. To him the chipping a stone in accordance with a preconceived form shows a special power latent in the human species, and the crudest implement marks an era in the evolution of intellectual forces. Form and shape have a paramount significance since they are expressions of an idea; the choice of these declare individuality. In pictographic writing, in ideographic decorations, totemic marks, and vase embellishments, he discovers a world of ideas. Here are expressions of beliefs, of superstitions and indestructible aspirations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.