Picturing New York by Deák, Gloria;

Short description:

In this lavishly illustrated volume of historical vignettes, Deák charts the birth and development of this incomparable city. Each of the fourteen essays explores a different facet of New York's history, ranging from the religious pluralism it enjoyed as a scruffy Atlantic trading post, the marketing and merchandising that propelled its growth, to the rise of the arts, literature, architecture, and sports.

Long description:

As every reader knows, New York defies any single attempt to take its measure. Here is a unique approach: a single-volume, thematically organized history of the city filled with prints, paintings, and photographs -- many in full color -- that make the book a feast for the eye.

The book consists of fourteen mini-histories, each of which can be read independently of the others. The author explores the city's multiple birth (it was named and renamed five times, and was originally known as Angouleme, not as New Amsterdam as most people believe). Deák covers the religious pluralism the city enjoyed as a scruffy Atlantic trading post, the marketing and merchandising that propelled its development, and the rise of the arts, literature, architecture, and sports. Throughout, the author attempts to answer the beguiling question: Was New York unique from the beginning?

Readers will find:

? The map recording the visit of the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano to Manhattan Island, circa 1540

? The print depicting the defensive barricade, built in 1653 by Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant, which gave Wall Street its name

? Artists' renditions of a bucolic ninteenth-century Brooklyn -- before bridges transformed it into an extension of the Manhattan megalopolis

? An 1892 planning sketch of the Grand Concourse, the Bronx's principal boulevard, intended to simulate the grandeur of Parisian roadways and ultimately to outclass Manhattan.

Comments from observers as diverse as Alexis de Tocqueville, Frances Trollope, Fanny Kemble, Charles Dickens, Sarah Bernhardt, Leon Trotsky, Fernand Leger, and W. H. Auden create an immediate sense of time and place and animate an already lively work.

"Unique among books telling the tale of New York, Gloria Deák's volume is a lively work that will delight reader's interested in the nation's largest city...Each section is generously illustrated with meaningful and important historical images, regardless of medium or place of origin. The result makes for wonderful reading...This is a most enjoyable book." -- Imprint

Table of Contents:

Preface
One - A MULTIPLE BIRTH - The European Discovery and Naming of Manhattan: Angouleme, New Amsterdam, New York, New Orange, and Forever After, New York
Two - A MULTIRELIGIOUS DESTINY - The Early Establishment of Religious Pluralism in Churches and Schools
Three - SEAFARING SPLENDOR - The Shaping of New York's Destiny as a World-Class Seaport
Four - MERCHANT PRINCES - The Lure of Marketing, Merchandising, and Moneymaking
Five - PEOPLING NEW YORK - Asia, Europe, and Africa Transplanted
Six - A CITY OF CONTRASTS - Ascent of the Rich and Struggles of the Poor
Seven - BROADWAY - The Metamorphosis of a Manhattan Street
Eight - BROOKLYN AND STATEN ISLAND - The People, Parks, and Ambience
Nine - THE BRONX AND QUEENS - The People, Parks and Ambience
Ten - POLITICIANS FOR ALL SEASONS - Peter Stuyvesant, Thomas Dongan, Fernando Wood, and Fiorello La Guardia
Eleven - TRIUMPHS OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN ENGINEERING - Buildings, Bridges, Parks, and the City's Underground
Twelve - PAINTING, THEATER, MUSIC, AND DANCE - New York's Rise as an International Center in All Phases of the Arts
Thirteen - COMMUNICATION AS ART AND AS INDUSTRY - Literature, Newspapers, Printing, and Publishing
Fourteen - SPORTS FOR ALL SEASONS AND ALL FANS - Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Notes
Bibliography
Picture Credits
Index