Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture

Description

The enduring influence of naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt on American art, culture, and politics Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was one of the most influential scientists and thinkers of his age. A Prussian-born geographer, naturalist, explorer, and illustrator, he was a prolific writer whose books graced the shelves of Americ

Eleanor Jones Harvey is senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She received her PhD in the history of art from Yale University. Harvey is the author of The Civil War and American Art, The Voyage of the Icebergs: Frederic Church's Arctic Masterpiece, and The Painted Sketch: American Impressions from Nature, 1830-1880. Hans-Dieter Sues is a senior scientist and curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He received his PhD in biology from Harvard University. Sues is the author of The Rise of Reptiles, the coauthor of Triassic Life on Land, and the editor or coeditor of several volumes on vertebrate paleontology.

"Finalist for the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award, College Art Association" "Shortlisted for the Alice Award, Furthermore Grants in Publishing" "Winner, Secretary's Research Prize, Smithsonian Congress of Scholars" "[A] rich and beautifully produced catalogue."---Philip Kennicott, Washington Post "This handsome, beautifully illustrated, engagingly and perceptively written volume was published in association with the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition by the same name. . . . Chapter notes demonstrate Harvey's mastery of the primary materials and the sources that chronicle these developments and the secondary literature built on those sources . . . Essential." * Choice * "[An] immersive volume . . . [Alexander von Humboldt and the United States includes] lavishly reproduced portraits of Humboldt contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson, period maps, animal studies and sculptures related to Humboldt's life and times."---Danny Heitman, Wall Street Journal "[A] dense, engrossing project . . . [Alexander von Humboldt and the United States includes]eight scholarly essays beautifully illustrated with paintings, artifacts, and maps. . . . An archetype of the 'public intellectual' bearing enormous, transformative importance, thoroughly considered in word and image." * Library Journal * "[A] grandly executed, profusely illustrated volume."---Edward Rothstein, Wall Street Journal "[A] magnificent book. . . . a book that begs to be read and reread."---Laura Dassow Walls, Early American Literature