Topographic memory and Victorian travellers in the Dolomite mountains : peaks of Venice / William Bainbridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bainbridge, William, author.

Series:

Landscape & heritage series.

Landscape and heritage studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

British--Travel--Italy--History--19th century.

British.

Dolomite Alps (Italy)--Description and travel.

Dolomite Alps (Italy).

Dolomite Alps (Italy)--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2020.

Summary:

Guided by the romantic compass of Turner, Byron, and Ruskin, Victorian travellers to the Dolomites sketched in the mountainous backdrop of Venice a cultural 'Petit Tour' of global significance. As they zigzagged across a debatable land between Italy and Austria, Victorians discovered a unique geography characterized by untrodden peaks and unfrequented valleys. The discovery of this landscape blended aesthetic, scientific, and cultural values utterly different from those engendered by the bombastic conquests of the Western Alps achieved during the 'Golden Age of Mountaineering'. Filtered through memories of the Venetian Grand Tour, the Victorian encounter with the Dolomites is revealed through a series of distinct cultural practices that paradigmatically define a 'Silver Age of Mountaineering'. This book shows how these practices are more ethnographic than imperialistic, more feminine than masculine, more artistic than sportive 'rather than racing to summits, the Silver Age is about rambling, rather than conquering peaks, it is about sketching them in an intimate interaction with the Dolomite landscape.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. One Matrices of Topographic Memory

1. The Alps And The Grand Tour

The End of the Grand Tour

Hannibal's Passage

Romantic Rocks

2. The Laboratory Of The Picturesque

Travelling into Substance

Geological Riddles

Picturesque Exploitation

3. The Golden Age Of Mountaineering

Alpine Sensationalism

Portable Mountains

The Playground of Europe

The Alpine Club Orthodoxy

pt. Two The Invention of the Dolomites

4. The Silver Age Of Mountaineering

The Vogue of Italy

The Alpine Tour

Gothic Mountains

Edwards's Sentimental Voyage

5. Titian Country

The Scotland of Italy

The Cult of Titian

The Dolomite Petit Tour

6. Picturesque Mountains

Revelling in the Scenery

Picturing the Picturesque

Picturing the Dolomites

7. Dolomite Close-Ups

Prominent Strongholds

Haptic Mountains

Dolomite Guides

8. King Laurin's Garden

Debatable Peaks

The Jewel of Austria's Crown

Magic Mountains

Reginald Farrer's Rock Garden.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Jun 2021).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-003-70838-2

90-485-3931-5

9781003708384

OCLC:

1181774779