audiobook Old Washington; D.C. in Early Photographs; 1846-1932 by Robert Reed in Arts-Photography

Description

The rise and growth of Washington; D. C.; in the nineteenth century closely paralleled the invention and development of photography mdash; a felicitous circumstance that made possible this valuable photographic record of the early years of the nations capital. Culled from the archives of the Library of Congress; Smithsonian; Columbia Historical Society; and other sources; these 224 rare prints (including works by such Victorian-era cameramen as Brady; Bishop; Plumbe; Hiller; Peale; et al.) constitute a vivid and enduring record of a city in progress mdash; from sparsely settled provincial southern town to majestic seat of national power and influence.In spite of their vintage (over half are pre-1900; the earliest a striking 1846 daguerreotype of the Capitol under construction); these priceless views retain an undiminished precision and clarity of detail that brings old Washington into sharp focus mdash; timeless reminders of how a city and its people looked as a metropolis of pomp and power grew up about them. From the slums of Purdy Court to the turreted mansions of Dupont Circle; from the massive marble monuments of "Federal" Washington; to the humble shops and saloons of 7th Street; these rare pictures recall places and events steeped in meaning for a nation and its citizens: Lincolns first inauguration (1861); Ford̍s Theater draped in mourning (1865); Grand Review of the Union Army (1865); Old Willard Hotel (housed Nathaniel Hawthorne; Lincoln; Grant; Tyler; Pierce); portrait of Frederick Douglass and family (1885); homes of Dolley Madison and Francis Scott Key; Womenrsquo;s Suffrage Parade (1913); and many other historic; social; and geographic landmarks.This rich gallery of contemporary views also reveals nineteenth-century Washington as a showplace of architectural styles (Gothic Revival; Romanesque; Classical; Italian Renaissance; Victorian; etc.) employed to stunning effect by the master builders of the age: James Renwick (Smithsonian; Corcoran Gallery of Art); Benjamin Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch (Capitol); Robert Mills (Old Post Office; Patent Office; Treasury Building); Andrew Jackson Downing (Francis Dodge House); Henry Hobson Richardson (Henry Adams House); and many others.Side by side with its architectural splendor; the mundane life of the city is recaptured in remarkable images of an era when beer was a nickel a bottle and cows still grazed within sight of the Capitol. Here are turn-of-the-century schoolchildren admiring the newly opened Library of Congress; summer crowds mingling on the White House lawn in the administration of Chester Arthur; an Easter Monday egg-roll in 1898; Marine Band concerts; idyllic outings at Rock Creek Park; bone-shaking rides on a velocipede; parades; celebrations; inaugurations; and many other vignettes of people; neighborhoods; and daily life.The photos are arranged in an east-to-west geographic sequence (Capitol Hill to Georgetown) that roughly parallels the historic development of the city. Robert Reed has provided an informative introduction and captions; enhancing the unique and irreplaceable value of this collection. Historians; photographers; architects; visitors mdash; anyone interested in the process by which a muddy village on the banks of the Potomac became one of the great capitals of the world mdash; will want to have this book.