Elegant New York: The Builders and the Buildings 1885-1915 - Hardcover

Tauranac, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0896594580 ISBN 13: 9780896594586

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1985

Synopsis

Two hundred fifty architectural illustrations enhance this social history of New York, beginning with the era of its first magnificent palaces and grand hotels

About this title

Review:

Who built New York? Not the neon glitz of Times Square or the glass and steel of Midtown, but the brownstone and marble that characterize the city's most precious buildings? Between the American Industrial Revolution and World War I, millionaires funded the construction of the New York most revered by lovers of architecture and urban planning. Elegant New York, which is as much a social history as an architectural survey, follows the family fortunes of those who contributed to the creation of the world's most famous city. Each chapter is arranged by neighborhood and includes the architectural highlights produced during America's "Age of Elegance."

Review:

"A stunning book, ... (which) lavishly recaptures turn-of-the-century New York when brownstone, limestone and marble were the preferred materials for public buildings and the stately mansions of the Astors and Vanderbilts." -- Playbill, September, 1996

"Little's photographs present both exteriors and interiors as Tauranac's highly readable text explores the economics, the politics, and above all, the social implications of this Age of Elegance.'" -- New York Daily News, December 8, 1985

"Tauranac artfully weaves significant information about the history of the commissions and their often complex organizational structure with amusing anecdotes about the builders, politicians, architects, and patrons....An informative, entertaining, and eminently readable collection of New Yorkiana." -- Winterthur Portfolio, Spring, 1987

"Tauranac's social history is captivating, and he always has just the right phrase."

-- Publishers Weekly, December 13, 1985

"The author's graceful prose combines with Christopher Little's superb photographs to create an art book in which to become contentedly lost, even if you've never visited the city." -- Carol E. Rinzler, Cosmopolitan, December, 1985

"This beautiful coffee-table book is a guide to New York's architectural Age of Elegance (1885--1915), when names like Morgan, Vanderbilt, Astor and Carnegie ruled New York high society, and Stanford White created the city's architectural landscape." -- USA Today, April 5, 1996

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0896594580
• ISBN 13: 9780896594586
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288