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Show 103 prompted him to take Bodmer, at no little expense, on the North American expedition. The dazzling result of his investment in Bodmer made it difficult for Maximilian to consider the gradual economic and technological changes that had occurred in the publishing field since publication of Brazil. The 1830s marked a time of transition in travelbook publications. Lithographs were rapidly replacing aquatint as the faster and less-expensive medium for book illustration. As a result, the overall costs of publication were reduced, allowing the market to expand to an ever-growing middle class interested in both the scientific and the picturesque. It is evident that Maximilian was unaware of the implications these changes held for his proposed book. Maximilian's choice for an elaborate travelbook resulted in a major change in focus. Ultimately, the appeal of Travels would be directly related not to the scientific information that Maximilian had collected, but to the art that had been produced to illustrate it. The very fact that Bodmer had accompanied Maximilian on the expedition and had so successfully produced a visual record of the journey-in a style so compatible with contemporary travelbook illustration-almost guaranteed Maximilian's choice of format for Travels. It was the art itself that would direct Maximilian's future decisions regarding publication. It must also be remembered that Maximilian would not have seen any serious conflict in such a choice. Science was not yet so exclusive a discipline that it had removed itself from popular interest and his account of his expedition to the American west fell neatly into the still-flourishing travelbook tradition. However, the choice did place additional demands upon Maximilian that he might otherwise not have encountered. |