Main entry:

Potter, Russell A., 1960-

Title & Author:

Arctic spectacles : the frozen North in visual culture, 1818-1875 / Russell A. Potter.

Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2007.

Description:

ix, 258 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm.

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-254) and index.
Introduction: Visuality and the Arctic regions -- A foretaste of those icy climes. Britain's Arctic circles -- The awful aspect of the scene. Arctic panoramas and the Northern sublime -- The killing glitter of the stars. Spectacles of the search for Franklin -- Things dimly shadowed forth. Picturing the "last dread alternative" -- The Arctic panoramas of Elisha Kent Kane -- Testing the region of the ice-bound soul. Private drama and public spectacle -- A late and sad discovery. Death and the Arctic sublime -- Curiosities of unusual interest. The Arctic shows of Charles Francis Hall -- A most weird and beautiful picture. Church's visions of the Arctic regions, 1860-1864 -- The photographic artist. William Bradford and the close of the panoramic era -- Epilogue: New media, new horizons.

Summary:

"When every land seems already explored, the northern exploits of the Victorian age offer a distant mirror from which to regard our own time. Fascination with the Arctic was particularly strong in the mid-nineteenth century, dominating the visual culture of both Britain and America. Arctic Spectacles documents nineteenth-century visual representations of the Arctic, weaving a narrative of the major Arctic expeditions with an account of their public reception through art and mass media. At a time when every corner of the globe seemed open to the examining eye of Western science, it was the remote, mysterious, and untamable Arctic that captured public imagination. Its impact could be seen in visual media ranging from fine art to panorama, engravings, lantern slides, and photographs, as well as hybrid forms in which Inuit were "exhibited" alongside a cabinet of assorted Arctic curiosities, while Western gentlemen looked on.
Russell Potter also traces the story of the long, drawn-out exploration of the Northwest Passage and the beginning of the push toward the North Pole, each new exploration producing its own arctic response. While early visual representations focused on the natural wonders of a world of magic beauty and purity, later responses were influenced by a struggle to come to terms with the human toll of Arctic exploration: lives lost, reports of cannibalism, and the loss of an original sense of purpose. Drawing from the illustrated press, panoramas, and dioramas of the era, as well as overlooked ephemera such as handbills and newspapers, Potter shows how representations of the Arctic expressed the fascination, dread, and wonder inspired by the region, feelings that have endured for nearly two centuries."--pub. desc.

Resources:
Table of contents

ISBN:

9780773533332 (pbk. : alk. pap.)
0773533338 (pbk. : alk pap.)
9780773533325 (hbk. : alk. pap.)
077353332X (hbk. alk. pap.)

Subject:

Popular culture History 19th century.
Documentary photography.
Art, Victorian.
Culture populaire Histoire 19e siècle.
Photographie documentaire.
Art victorien.
documentary photography.
Victorian.
Discoveries in geography
Popular culture
Travel
Arctic regions Description and travel.
Arctic regions Pictorial works.
Arctic regions Discovery and exploration.
Arctique Descriptions et voyages.
Arctique Ouvrages illustrés.
Arctique Découverte et exploration.
Arctic Regions

Form/genre:

History
Illustrated works

Holdings:

Location: Library main 254428
Call No.: BIB 184420
Status: Available