The Statue of Liberty : a transatlantic story / Edward Berenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berenson, Edward, 1949-

Series:

Icons of America.

Icons of America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.)--History.

Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.).

New York (N.Y.)--Buildings, structures, etc--History.

New York (N.Y.).

United States--Relations--France.

United States.

France--Relations--United States.

France.

Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste, 1834-1904.

Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (244 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"If you think you know all there is to know about the Statue of Liberty, you'll be pleasantly surprised."- The New York Times When the crated monument first arrived in New York Harbor, few could have foreseen the central place the Statue of Liberty would come to occupy in the American imagination. In this book, cultural historian and scholar of French history Edward Berenson tells the little-known stories of the statue's improbable beginnings, transatlantic connections, and the changing meanings it has held for each successive generation. He tells of the French intellectuals who decided for their own domestic political reasons to pay tribute to American liberty; the initial, less-than-enthusiastic American response; and the countless difficulties before the statue was at last unveiled to the public in 1886. The trials of its inception and construction, however, are only half of the story. Berenson also shows how the statue's symbolically indistinct, neoclassical form has allowed Americans to interpret its meaning in diverse ways-as representing the emancipation of the slaves, Tocqueville's idea of orderly liberty, opportunity for "huddled masses, " and, in the years since 9/11, the freedom and resilience of New York City and the United States in the face of terror. Includes photos and illustrations "Endlessly fascinating."- Louisville Courier-Journal

Contents:

The idea

Paying for it

Building it

American reticence?

The unveiling

Huddled masses

From neglect to commemoration

The popular imagination

Restoration

The centennial celebration

Coda : October 2010.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613601353

9781280571756

1280571756

9780300183283

0300183283

OCLC:

793359845