Men in black

282 Pages·1995·14.027 MB·English

by  John Harvey

Dickens, Ruslin. Baudclairc all asked
....ilr ifwas. in this age ofsuprtnw ....eahh
and power. that men wanted 10 dress
a.~ If going 10 a fuOCr:11.

Men in Black

Men in Black
John Harvey
REAKTION BOOKS
Published byReaktion BooksLtd
II Rathbone Place,LondonWIP IDE, UK
Firstpublished 1995,
First publishedinpaperback 1997
Copyright©JohnHarvey, 1995
Allrightsreserved. Nopart ofthispublication
maybe reproduced,stored inaretrievalsystem,or
transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise
without the prior permission ofthepublishers.
DesignedbyHumphreyStone
Jacket designed byRon Costley
PhotosetbyWilmaset Ltd, Birkenhead, Wirral
Printedinthe UnitedStates ofAmerica
British Library Cataloguing inPublication Data:
Harvey,John
Men inBlack.- (Picturing History
Series)
I.Title 11.Series
9°9
ISBN0-948462-73-6 (hbk)
D-948462-74-4
Thepublishersacknowledgepermission fromFaber
and FaberLtd toreproduce quoted matter fromReservoirDogs
byQuentinTarantinoasan epigraph.
ALSOBYJOHN HARVEY:
VictorianNooelists andtheirIllustrators
ThePlateShop(novel)
Coupd'Etat(novel)
TheLegendofCaptainSpace(novel)
Contents
Introduction: Clothes, Colour and Meaning 9
I Whose Funeral? 23
2 Black in History 4I
3 From Black in Spain to Blackin Shakespeare 7I
4 From Black in Art to Dickens's Black I 15
5 England's Dark House 151
6 Men in Blackwith Women in White 195
7 Black in our Time 225
References 258
Photographic Acknowledgements 276
Index 277
Acknowledgements
Iammostsubstantiallyindebted,forcriticism,advice,tips,castigation,
to those who very generously consented, at differing stages of its
development, to read and comment on mymanuscript: David Armi
tage, John Beer, Derek Brewer, Peter Burke, John Burnett, Philip
Collins, Don Cupitt, Gerard Evans,John Gage, Graham McMaster,
Leonee Ormond, Aileen Ribeiro,Jonathan RileySmith. But I haveI
think gained and learned from every conversation I have had with
friends and acquaintancesonthe topicsofthisbook.Mygreatest debt
is to mywife,Julietta Harvey, for her alert reading and criticism and
suggestions.
MR PINK:
Whycan'twepickout our owncolor?
JOE:
Itried that once, itdon'twork.Youget four guysfightingoverwho's gonna
be Mr Black.
QuentinTarantino,ReserooirDogs
I EdgarDegas, TheCottonMarket, NewOrleans, 1872, oiloncanvas.Musee des
Beaux-Arts, Pau.