Brief chapters on developments in the graphic arts period by period are followed by a sizable and varied selection of illustrations, supplemented--where appropriate--with a special portfolio. Thus ""The Gilded Age,"" 1876-1900, occasions not only circus posters, trade cards (as examples of chromolithography), diverse newspaper ads and some steel-engraved stock certificates, but also a bounty of art posters featuring the work of Maxfield Parrish, Edward Penfield, and Will Bradley. The text is the merest introduction and many of the examples are well-known, making this most suitable for the neophyte; but those familiar with the subject will welcome the opportunity to compare title pages by Updike and young designers of the Thirties, for example, or study a series of regal Locomobile announcements.