New York the Wonder City 1932 - Taschenbuch

This is a facsimile edition published in 1983 in paperback by New York Bound from the 1932 original by W. Parker Chase and features an introduction by Paul Goldberger, architecture critic. It includes more than 800 superb photographs of New York from 1932. The cover illustration is by Vernon Howe Bailey: 'Empire State: A Pictorial Record of its Construction', 1931. About this book: Although no-one is exactly sure who W. Parker Chase actually was, he produced an extraordinary document of a brief moment in New York's history. The book is a part encyclopaedia, part social register, part architectural guide, part history and part business directory of the city as it existed in 1932. More important than this, the book acted as a morale booster to a city and country in the midst of a deep Depression. It is not difficult to see how the author's book would have awed the reader with the dazzling sights, power and sheer potential that New York stood for. A beacon of brilliance in the gloom is how this would have been perceived. Chase peppered the book with his perceptions of New York and also with moralistic statements - along the lines of the city having much to offer in terms of good things (opportunities, architecture, etc), but also having much to offer in terms of temptations (vice, criminality, corruption, etc). Chase's real intent with this book is to sell the city as an environment for business - the quality of the real estate being a prime example and he goes on to list virtually every office, tower, hotel, apartment building, club, church, school, university, hospital, bank, movie theatre, department store and park in the city along with a photograph, cost, architect and other vital statistics - a truly astonishing record. His enthusiasm really comes through for some buildings like the Waldorf-Astoria and Grand Central Station. It is a charming and innocent book packed full of facts and eager superlatives that are still relevant and interesting today. Indexed.