A Description Of The New York Central Park

A new facsimile edition of a classic work on New Yorks architectural masterpieceCentral ParkAs growing numbers of people are visiting Central Park and a wide range of New Yorkers are drawn into its restoration researchers and enthusiasts have turned repeatedly to one special book A Description of the New York Central Park It tells a story that began in 1858 when landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won the competition to design New York Citys most democratic environment When the book was conceived in the mid-1860s Olmsted and Vaux were battling to defend their plan Threats to the park included a proposal to build ornate entrances suggestive of French imperialism and a proliferation of sculptures and monuments that were intruding in an otherwise natural setting The volumes author Clarence C Cook a noted Victorian art critic was the designers ally in their cause As Maureen Meister reveals in her new Introduction evidence suggests that Olmsted and Vaux instigated the books publication and advised Cook on what he wrote This delightful facsimile edition offers much to the modern reader Complementing Cooks lively often wry text are the original images that were prepared by Albert Fitch Bellows They depict many sites that still survive in the park today along with features that have been lost over time and long-lost structures that have been rebuilt recently Together the text and illustrations are an homage to a magnificent public park that has come to be regarded as New York Citys greatest achievement and a model for the nation