Kaaterskill Books

Leslie, Frank. Edmonds, C., artist.

"Records of Saratoga" [and] "Life Sketches at Saratoga" [in] Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. No. 195 Vol. VIII. August 27, 1859.

New York: [Frank Leslie], 1859. 24 pp. Illus. with b/w drawings. Folio. Self wrappers. First edition. Very good, lightly soiled, margins of fore edge tattered on two leaves, barely nicking image. Item #43625

Contains seven wood engravings of Saratoga, New York, by C. Edmonds. One full page "Afternoon Lounge in the Gardens of Union Hall," (14 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches), and six ranging from 4 1/2 x 3 1/2 to 9 1/2 x 6 inches: "Outdoor Amusements of the Visitors at Saratoga - Circular Railway Sketches", "Quaker Visitors Viewing Statuary", "Oldest Inhabitant Contrast in Society", "The Old Beau and the Young Exquisite", "Drinking the Waters", "Morning Scene at Congress Spring." Jon Sterngass in his book "First Resorts: Pursuing Pleasure at Saratoga Springs, Newport, and Coney Island" (Baltimore: John Hopkins Univ. Press, 2001) notes: "Saratoga’s popularity flew directly in the face of transcendentalism and other nature-centered movements. Although the expansion of summer travel coincided with the popularity of landscape art and a nostalgic affection for the wilderness, American watering places stalwartly resisted the tendency to deify either unsullied nature or the historic past. Visitors generally ignored the romantic, patriotic, or even therapeutic allusions at Saratoga, giving precedence to socialization. The vast majority of visitors perceived Saratoga to be located 'in a barren district' devoid of interesting features, whose paltry scenery was 'surpassed by almost any resort of our land.' Yet it did not stop their arrival by the tens of thousands. Lamentations for a lost era of bucolic innocence merely served as an excuse to attend Saratoga’s large resort hotels. Saratoga Springs was one o f the first American locales to create and promote itself exclusively as a resort city." Further Sketches & Features on: "The Spy System in France"; "The Last Moments of Henry Clay"; "The New American Style of Architecture for Cottages and Villas"; "Man's Nearest Relation"; "General Amos Pilsbury"; "New York Harbor Police"; "A Picture of the Pope"; "A Japanese Conjurer"; "Freaks of a Bull Chase in New York"; "The Cowardice of the Press"; "The Visit of MacDonald, the Murderer, to Crosby Street"; "Blondin Outdone- M. De Lave Crosses Genesee Falls on a Tight Rope".

Price: $100.00