City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture
In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, the city of Boston evolved from a dilapidated, haphazardly planned, and architecturally stagnant provincial town into a booming and visually impressive metropolis. In an effort to remake Boston into the “Athens of America,” neighborhoods were leveled, street...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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University of North Carolina Press
2020
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| Online Access: | https://uncpress.org/book/9781469638737/city-of-second-sight/ https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143578 |
| _version_ | 1811677482287366144 |
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| author | Clark, Justin T. |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Clark, Justin T. |
| author_sort | Clark, Justin T. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, the city of Boston evolved from a dilapidated, haphazardly planned, and architecturally stagnant provincial town into a booming and visually impressive metropolis. In an effort to remake Boston into the “Athens of America,” neighborhoods were leveled, streets straightened, and an ambitious set of architectural ordinances enacted. However, even as residents reveled in a vibrant new landscape of landmark buildings, art galleries, parks, and bustling streets, the social and sensory upheaval of city life also gave rise to a widespread fascination with the unseen. Focusing his analysis between 1820 and 1860, Justin T. Clark traces how the effort to impose moral and social order on the city also inspired many—from Transcendentalists to clairvoyants and amateur artists—to seek out more ethereal visions of the infinite and ideal beyond the gilded paintings and glimmering storefronts.
By elucidating the reciprocal influence of two of the most important developments in nineteenth-century American culture—the spectacular city and visionary culture—Clark demonstrates how the nineteenth-century city is not only the birthplace of modern spectacle but also a battleground for the freedom and autonomy of the spectator. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:38:04Z |
| format | Book |
| id | ntu-10356/143578 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:38:04Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | University of North Carolina Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1435782020-09-10T05:04:26Z City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture Clark, Justin T. School of Humanities Humanities::History Visual Culture American History In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, the city of Boston evolved from a dilapidated, haphazardly planned, and architecturally stagnant provincial town into a booming and visually impressive metropolis. In an effort to remake Boston into the “Athens of America,” neighborhoods were leveled, streets straightened, and an ambitious set of architectural ordinances enacted. However, even as residents reveled in a vibrant new landscape of landmark buildings, art galleries, parks, and bustling streets, the social and sensory upheaval of city life also gave rise to a widespread fascination with the unseen. Focusing his analysis between 1820 and 1860, Justin T. Clark traces how the effort to impose moral and social order on the city also inspired many—from Transcendentalists to clairvoyants and amateur artists—to seek out more ethereal visions of the infinite and ideal beyond the gilded paintings and glimmering storefronts. By elucidating the reciprocal influence of two of the most important developments in nineteenth-century American culture—the spectacular city and visionary culture—Clark demonstrates how the nineteenth-century city is not only the birthplace of modern spectacle but also a battleground for the freedom and autonomy of the spectator. 2020-09-10T05:04:26Z 2020-09-10T05:04:26Z 2018 Book Clark, J. T. (2018). City of second sight: nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 978-1-4696-3873-7 https://uncpress.org/book/9781469638737/city-of-second-sight/ https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143578 en © 2018 University of North Carolina Press. All rights reserved. University of North Carolina Press |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::History Visual Culture American History Clark, Justin T. City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title | City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title_full | City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title_fullStr | City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title_short | City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture |
| title_sort | city of second sight nineteenth century boston and the making of american visual culture |
| topic | Humanities::History Visual Culture American History |
| url | https://uncpress.org/book/9781469638737/city-of-second-sight/ https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143578 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clarkjustint cityofsecondsightnineteenthcenturybostonandthemakingofamericanvisualculture |