This book arrived for review one day after an issue of American Quarterly that reviews six books under the caption “Visualizing Nineteenth-Century American Culture,” even though none of the books’ titles include the word “visual” (51 [December 1999]: 895-909). Then an article in CAA’s own Art Journal asked, “Who’s Afraid of Visual Culture?” (58 [Winter 1999]: 36-47). Several days later the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art queried members about launching a new periodical called...