Boston then & now

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BOSTON THEN AND NOW
59 Boston Sites Photographed in the Past and Present
by Peter Vander warker With the Assistance of the Boston Public Library
Few cities can equal the historical and architectural richness of Boston. From its earliest days as a Puritan settlement to its present-day status as a vital center of trade, commerce and higher education, the city has undergone monumental change in its shape, size, height and texture. Here in 59 side-by-side sets of views are photographic documentations of that change over the last 130 years. In this handsome volume historic photos of famous landmarks — Faneuil Hall, Trinity Church, the State House, New Old South Church, the Public Library, King's Chapel and over 50 other significant locations — are matched with new photographs of the same site, taken from the same vantage point. This dramatic juxtaposition of images affords the viewer the rare opportunity to observe the evolution of one of America's most beautiful cities.
Noted... Tovább

Fülszöveg

BOSTON THEN AND NOW
59 Boston Sites Photographed in the Past and Present
by Peter Vander warker With the Assistance of the Boston Public Library
Few cities can equal the historical and architectural richness of Boston. From its earliest days as a Puritan settlement to its present-day status as a vital center of trade, commerce and higher education, the city has undergone monumental change in its shape, size, height and texture. Here in 59 side-by-side sets of views are photographic documentations of that change over the last 130 years. In this handsome volume historic photos of famous landmarks — Faneuil Hall, Trinity Church, the State House, New Old South Church, the Public Library, King's Chapel and over 50 other significant locations — are matched with new photographs of the same site, taken from the same vantage point. This dramatic juxtaposition of images affords the viewer the rare opportunity to observe the evolution of one of America's most beautiful cities.
Noted architectural photographer, writer and native Bostonian Peter Vander-warker is your guide to Boston —its streets, waterfront, commercial, industrial and residential districts, public spaces, major buildings and historical sites. The author has supplemented the 120 fine photographs with a text that provides the background necessary to understand the growth of the city. Buildings in the photographs are identified and dated, and their designers noted. The captions also give the history of development of the areas shown, and the social, physical and political contexts of Boston are included in these descriptions.
The vintage prints in this remarkable photo essay were selected from thousands of pictures in the collections of the Boston Public Library, the Bostonian Society and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. The most outstanding of these early prints can be attributed to two architectural photographers of particular excellence: T. E. Marr and Josiah Johnson Hawes (of the famous South-worth & Hawes Daguerreotype Studios). Many of these captivating images seem like enchanted windows looking back to the Boston of another century.
In his rigorous search to duplicate- the old views faithfully, Vanderwarker's primary task was to locate the exact point from which the original had been taken. Often, getting the camera to the old vantage point required the author to hang out of windows or gain access to old and sofaetimes precarious rooftops. To keep the new views as close to the old as possible, great care was taken not to include anything outside the frame of the old view. In many instances the contemporary view is almost identical to the vintage; in other cases, however, modern additions have nearly obliterated the historic. Yet, in a time-layered city such as Boston the enduring beauty of the past shows through the present like the pentimento of an aging painting.
Original Dover (1982) publication. Foreword. Introduction and captions. 120 black-and-white photographs. 3maps. vi + 122pp. 8V* x 11. Paperbound. Vissza