Narrative Form and Iconographic Sequence: Rockwell Kent’s Candide (1928) in Text and Image

In 1928, Random House made its debut in the world of publishing with an edition of Candide that wouldbecome a milestone in the history of the twentieth-century American book. This edition was skilfully andcopiously illustrated by Rockwell Kent, one of the most important commercial illustrators in the UnitedStates. This article deals with the complex parallel between narrative form and iconographic sequence inthis celebrated edition of Voltaire’s classic. It contains an in-depth analysis of its iconographic components(ornate capitals, typographical ornaments, in-text vignettes, and paratextual framing) that shows how each onecontributes to the visual construction of the narrative.