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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Main Author: Clark, Justin T.
Other Authors: School of Humanities
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: 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
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.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
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Humanities::History
Visual Culture
American History
spellingShingle Humanities::History
Visual Culture
American History
Clark, Justin T.
City of second sight : nineteenth-century Boston and the making of American visual culture
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.
author2 School of Humanities
author_facet School of Humanities
Clark, Justin T.
format Book
author Clark, Justin T.
author_sort Clark, Justin T.
title 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_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_sort city of second sight : nineteenth-century boston and the making of american visual culture
publisher University of North Carolina Press
publishDate 2020
url https://uncpress.org/book/9781469638737/city-of-second-sight/
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143578
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