Dickenson undertakes a close reading of the images created by European artists, most of whom had never seen North America, and unravels the threads that linked the images to the curiosities and specimens that arrived in the Old World. Drawing on a wide range of illustrations -- wood-block prints, engravings, watercolours, and maps -- she examines several important issues regarding the nature of imagery: the tension between naturalistic representation and stylistic conventionalism; the role of media in imagery (especially the rise of printmaking); the historically changing function of images; and the need for historical context in 'reading' such pictures.

While many contemporary, artists claimed that their work was 'drawn from life, ' their images were, in fact, also works of the imagination. Drawn from Life is an illustrated archaeology of the imagination that allows readers on see North America as Cartier, Champlain, and early naturalists once saw it for themselves.