Venice

Arcadia Publishing, Published 2009. Paperback, 127 pp.; 24 cm; part of the Postcard History Series; illustrated throughout with black-and-white reproductions of vintage postcards and photographs.In Very Good condition. Pictorial matte covers with light bumping to edges and corners and mild shelf wear; mild fading to spine. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Inscribed (personalized) and signed by author on the half-title page.[From back cover] From the marshy savannahs of the Pacific coastal tidelands sprang the most amazing Venetian resort of the post-Victorian era. New Jersey-born Abbot Kinney aimed to create a cultural renaissance in 1905 on the sandy shores of Santa Monica Bay. But when the residents of Los Angeles County weren't interested, a carnival-like atmosphere replaced Kinney's opera singers, philosophers, and orators. Through the subsequent 100-plus years, the small resort had both extreme highs and lows, but it still prevails as an unparalleled fantasy by the sea.Contents: Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. A California Odyssey; 2. Tidal Savannahs to Venetian Fantasy; 3. Conflagration and Consolidation; Bibliography.…