Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture

Rosenberg, Daniel, 1966-
Joseph Priestley and the Graphic Invention of Modern Time
Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture - Volume 36, 2007, pp. 55-103

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Daniel Rosenberg - Joseph Priestley and the Graphic Invention of Modern Time - Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture 36:1 Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture 36.1 (2007) 55-103 Muse Search Journals This Journal Contents Joseph Priestley and the Graphic Invention of Modern Time Daniel Rosenberg Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum In historiography, the idea of time is expressed through a variety of figures, not the least of which is the line. Indeed, in temporal representation in general, the linear metaphor appears virtually everywhere. As W. J. T. Mitchell and others have argued, much of the language that we use to talk about time already implies this turn. In visual art, the same holds true: from the most ancient images of time to the most modern, the line appears as a central figure. The linear metaphor is ubiquitous in everyday visual representations, too, in almanacs, calendars, charts, and graphs of all sorts. So it comes as something of a surprise to discover that it was only quite recently that scholars first thought to represent chronological relationships among historical events by placing them on a measured timeline. This fact is not only surprising in retrospect: in the 1750s and 60s, when the modern timeline was first introduced, observers found it equally strange. Certainly, there was no technical reason why a regular timeline could not have been created earlier. Technologies of printing had long been available, as had techniques...