The Niagara Companion

Linda L. Revie

Description

What is it about Niagara Falls that fascinates people?

What draws them to it? Is it love, obsession, or fear?

In The Niagara Companion, Linda Revie searches for an answer to these questions by examining the paintings and writings about the Falls from the late seventeenth century, when the first Europeans discovered Niagara, to the early twentieth century.

Linda Revie’s study considers how three centuries of representations are shaped by the earliest encounters with the waterfall and notes shifts in the construction of landscape features and in human figures, both Native and European, in the long history of fine art depictions. Travel narratives, both literary and scientific, also come under her scrutiny, and reveal how these chronicles were influenced by previous pictures coming out of Niagara, particularly some of the first from the seventeenth century.

In all of these portraits and texts, she notes a common pattern of response from the observers — moving from anticipation, to disappointment, to a kind of recovery. But in the end, there is fear. Even long after Niagara had become a tourist mecca, it was often drawn as a primordial wilderness — a place where civilization vies with wildness, artifice with nature, fear with control, the natural with the mastered. Throughout this history of images and narratives, as humans struggle to control nature, the notion of wildness prevails.

Those who want a deeper understanding of why Niagara Falls continues to fascinate us, even today, will find Linda Revie’s book an excellent companion.

Sujets

• Sociology
• Cultural studies
• History of Canada

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780889206359
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The Nıagara Companion

Explorers, Artists,and Writers at the Falls, from Discovery through the Twentieth Century

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L A K E O N T A R I O

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Niagara River Recreation Trail

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Floral Clock

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NIAGARA FALLS Canadian Horseshoe Falls Goat Island Niagara River Recreation Trail

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N I A G A R A R I V E R

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Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

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NIAGARA FALLS American Falls

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Niagara River Recreation Trail Map.Niagara Parks Commission.

The Nıagara Companion

Explorers, Artists,and Writers at the Falls, from Discovery through the Twentieth Century

Linda L.Revie

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Schol- arly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial sup- port of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Revie, Linda L. (Linda Lee) The Niagara companion: explorers, artists, and writers at the Falls, from discovery through the twentieth century / Linda L. Revie.

Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-88920-433-0

1.Niagara Falls (Ont.)—Description and travel.2.Niagara Falls (Ont.)—In art.3.Niagara Falls (Ont.)—In literature.4.Niagara Falls (Ont.)— History.5.Niagara Falls Region (N.Y. and Ont.)—Description and travel.6. Niagara Falls Region (N.Y. and Ont.)—History.i.Title.

fc3095.n5r477 2003

971.3'39

©2003Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canadan2l 3c5 www.wlupress.wlu.ca

c2003-904095-x

Cover design by Leslie Macredie, using a painting by Isabella Stefanescu; text design by P.J. Woodland.

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.

 Printed in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopy- right.ca or call toll free to1-800-893-5777.

Contents

Acknowledgments vii

List of Figures ix

Introduction1

Chapter 1 17 Indian Icons and Wilderness Ideals

Chapter 2 59 Challenges of the Niagara Sublime

Chapter 3 113 Naturalist Observations and Feats of Physical Endurance

Conclusion153

Notes161

Bibliography187

Index207

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Acknowledgments

hile this book grew out of my Ph.D. dissertation at Boston W Niagara Falls (always on the Victoria Day weekend). For those College, it has deep roots in annual childhood pilgrimages to early encounters, I thank my parents, Ronald and Doreen Revie. Grad- uate fellowships at Boston College gave me the opportunity to carry out work on the thesis. And, at Boston College, my former supervisor, Rosemarie Bodenheimer, saw me through the years of research, writ- ing, and rewriting. At Wilfrid Laurier University Press, thanks go to Sandra Woolfrey for instructive comments on an early draft, and to Brian Henderson, Carroll Klein, Jenny Wilson, Leslie Macredie, Pam Woodland, and Elin Edwards for advice and encouragement. I am grateful to the three formal reviewers (all anonymous) from the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme for detailed and thought- ful readings. Finally, I owe very sincere appreciation to Mary MacDonald, Angela Caretta, and Jeffery Donaldson; to Isabella Stefanescu for painting Niagara; and to Karen Dubinsky for all her insightful processing.

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List of Fıgures

Figure 1:Anonymous, The Falls of Niagara(1697)25 Figure 2:Sebastian LeClerc, View of Niagara Falls(ca.1700)27 Figure 3:Herman Moll, The Cataract of Niagara(ca.1715)28 Figure 4:Thomas Davies, Niagara Falls from Below(ca.1766)29

Figure 5:Anonymous, A View of the Famous Cataract of Niagara in North America(1751)35 Figure 6:Henry Fuseli, View of Niagara Falls(1776)41 Figure 7:Robert Hancock, The Waterfall of Niagara in North America(1794)43

Figure 8:Isaac Weld, View of the Horseshoe Falls of Niagara(1799)45 Figure 9:Thomas Cole, A Distant View of the Falls of Niagara(1831)47 Figure 10:W.R. Callington, The American Steam PacketCaroline, Descending the Great Falls of Niagara after Being Set on Fire by the British, December 29th, 1837, with a Distant View of Navy Island(1837)49

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