Title: Picturesque America; or, The land we live in. A delineation by pen and pencil of the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, water-falls, shores, cañons, valleys, cities, and other picturesque features of our country. With illustrations on steel and wood by eminent American artists. Edited by William Cullen Bryant. New York: D. Appleton c. 1872-1874.
Picturesque America is a two volume set of books that documents American scenery through a series of 65 essays and 950 engravings. Originally published as a subscription, the essays were later bound into 2 volumes edited by William Cullen Bryant (poet, journalist, and editor of the New York Evening Post) and became a bestseller in the late 19th century. The work is said to have positively impacted America’s tourism industry as well as spark the country’s historic preservation movement.
Volume I contains essays titled “Newport” and “Providence and Vicinity”, both written by T. M. Clarke. The views of Newport were engraved by C. G. Griswold and others, and those of Providence by William Hamilton Gibson.
Clarke writes very colorfully and highlights the rich history of Newport, along with its reputation as a recreational destination in 1872 (a reputation it retains to this day). “…Every afternoon Bellevue is a whirl of splendid equipages; night and morning, bands of music fill the air with melody, and ‘all goes merry as a marriage-bell.’ When the chill winds of autumn drive these summer residents back to their city homes, the old town relapses into its winter sleep” (p. 326). His descriptions of Newport emphasize the city’s stately history, beautiful landscapes, and bright future.
When writing of Providence, Clarke aptly describes the history of the city’s founding, and sets the scene of the city as it stands in 1872, but it becomes increasingly clear that he is not a fan of the city’s architecture:
“People are now beginning to see that an inexpensive and humble dwelling may be made attractive by a symmetrical arrangement of lines and a proper adjustment of the roof….As might be expected, while we are passing through the transition period from bald ugliness to grace and beauty, absurd and ambitious monstrosities are perpetrated, from which the cultivated eye turns away in disgust – pillars that look like an old-fashioned bedpost magnified, supporting a huge portico altogether out of proportion to the house; bits of Egyptian, and Grecian, and Saracenic, and Gothic, put together in awful defiance of all the rules of art….But, before long, we shall be rid of these abominations; and, as men go to a good tailor when they want a good coat, so they will learn to call upon a real architect…when they would build a good house” (p. 499).
Don’t worry, Clarke does approve of some of the buildings in Providence, including the First Baptist Meeting House and Grace Church, and writes glowingly of those and other notable buildings!
Discovered by: Stephanie Knott, Reference Librarian & Special Collections Assistant
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