The personality of Paris : landscape and society in the long-nineteenth century / Alan R.H. Baker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, Alan R. H., author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Haussmann, Georges Eugène, baron, 1809-1891.

Paris (France)--Description and travel.

Paris (France)--Historical geography.

Paris (France)--History--19th century.

City planning--France--Paris--History--19th century.

Paris (France)--Buildings, structures, etc--History.

Buildings.

City planning.

Historical geography.

Travel.

France--Paris.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 225 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Landscape and society in the long-nineteenth century

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Summary:

"What was the personality of 19th-century Paris? To answer that question, this book eschews the conventional narrative and chronological route taken by most histories of Paris. Instead, it thematically analyses the complex personality traits of Paris from the onset of the Revolution of 1789 to the beginning of the Great War. Starting with the topographical and cultural legacies that late 18th-century Paris inherited from its foundation in pre-Roman and Roman times and from its medieval infancy and early-modern adolescence, The Personality of Paris unpacks the social and material complexity of the 19th-century city. It considers the role of immigration in the making of Parisians and in the city's growth from half a million in 1801 to almost three million in 1911. It examines the making of its distinctive landscape through the construction of monuments and architectural icons, through its massive re-modelling by Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann, through its five world exhibitions, through its emphasis on food, fashion and leisure, and through the ways in which Parisians sought rural release from urban pressure. Finally, the book considers the self-harm done to the person of 19th-century Paris by revolutions and wars and the damage inflicted on it by 20th-century hubristic politicians and architects"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Beginnings: The founding of Paris and its growth to 1789

The site and situation of early settlement

Medieval Paris

Encircling the growth of Paris

Early modern Paris

2. The peopling of Paris: The making of `Parisians'

On becoming a metropolis

The growth of population 1789

1914

The role of immigration

The making of `Parisians'

A `sick' city 1800

50

The emergence of concepts of urbanism and town planning

3. Monumentalizing Paris: Commemorating its past

The column in the Place Vendome 1806

10

The Arc de Triomphe 1806

36

The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde 1836

The July Column in the Place de la Bastille 1840

The statue of Joan of Arc in the Place des Pyramides 1874

The monument to the Republic 1880

The Statue of Liberty 1886

The meanings of monuments

Street names

History and collective memory

4. Modernizing Paris: Rebuilding the city

Towards curing a `sick' city

The context for change

Haussmann's transformation of Paris 1853

70

Critiques of Haussmann's work by his contemporaries

Critiques of Haussmann's work by historians

5. Symbolizing Paris: Architectural icons

The Pantheon 1791

The Opera Gamier 1862

75

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart 1875

1912

The Eiffel Tower 1889

Le Pont Alexandre III 1900

Le Metro 1900

6. Projecting Paris: World Fairs 1855

1900

1855 Exposition universelle de Paris

1867 Exposition universelle de Paris

1878 Exposition universelle de Paris

1889 Exposition universelle de Paris

1900 Exposition universelle de Paris

Five Expositions universelles: The whole greater than the sum of its parts?

7. Enjoying Paris: Food, fashion and fun

"The right to idleness'

Food: haute cuisine

Fashion: haute couture

Department stores: Grands magasins

Fun in Gai Paris

The democratization of leisure?

8. Escaping Paris: (Re-)discovering `Nature' and the provinces

Parks and gardens in Paris before 1850

Parks and gardens in Paris after 1850

Cemeteries

In pursuit of `Nature' away from Paris

9. `Assassinating Paris'?: Revolutions, wars and the twentieth century

Processes of urban renewal

Revolutions and upheavals

Wars

Since 1945.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Baker, Alan R. H. Personality of Paris

ISBN:

9781350252646

1350252646

OCLC:

1251873653

Publisher Number:

99990938441