Pictures From Italy - Softcover

Dickens, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1508839034 ISBN 13: 9781508839033

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015

Synopsis

Pictures From Italy is a classic Italian travel diary by Charles Dickens. Many books have been written upon Italy, affording many means of studying the history of that interesting country, and the innumerable associations entwined about it. In Pictures From Italy I make but little reference to that stock of information; not at all regarding it as a necessary consequence of my having had recourse to the storehouse for my own benefit, that I should reproduce its easily accessible contents before the eyes of my readers.In 1844, Dickens took a respite from writing novels and for several months traveled through France and Italy with his family. They visited the most famous sights: Genoa, Rome, Naples (with Vesuvius still smouldering), Florence and Venice. In his travelogue the author portrays a nation of great contrasts: grandiose buildings and urban desolation, and everyday life beside ancient monuments. But it is his encounters with Italy's colorful street life that capture the imagination. Dickens is particularly drawn to the costumes, cross-dressing, and sheer exuberance of the Roman carnival. From the book we learn that Dickens was an early riser and walker, and that he enjoyed touring the major attractions on foot.

About this title

Book Description:

In this 1846 publication Charles Dickens describes the landscapes, architecture, people and customs he observed during a year's stay in Italy with his family in 1844. Originally published as letters in the Daily News, the book is notable for the same shrewd social observations that Dickens demonstrates in his novels.

About the Author:

Charles Dickens (1812–1870), one of the greatest British novelists of all time was also a journalist, an actor and a curious observer of the streets. In his novels, essays and journalism he brought to life the momentous nineteenth century, captive to commerce and greed, science and progress, conquest and colonialism. Human oddities, frailty, greed, sorrow and sentiment, the poor, meek and the laboring moved him. Acts of time and history, mortality and the compassion that may yet redeem us absorbed his attention and got written into his extraordinary fiction.

Livia Signorini is based in Italy and splits her time between Rome and Milan. She studied art at Temple University and Università la Sapienza of Rome, and has worked as an artist and picture researcher since 1988. Her work has been exhibited in different galleries in both Rome and Berlin, and includes mostly collages or the reinvention of found objects.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1508839034
• ISBN 13: 9781508839033
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 166