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 "The World's Columbian
Exposition of 1893" website was created to provide world-wide access to
thousands of illustrations and full-text images of the Chicago World's Fair
of 1893 for purposes of teaching and research. The site highlights four works
focusing on various aspects of the fair including two multi-volume sets that
were digitized by Luna Imaging Co.
as the result of an Illinois
State Library FY98 Educate and Automate grant. These four works are
listed below.
Historical significance of the World's Columbian Exposition
The second half of the 19th century was an age of fairs and expositions
held in London, Paris, and other great cities throughout
the world. The World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago
in 1893, was the first critically and economically successful U.S. world's
fair. Conceived as a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the new world, the
Exposition held a near-mythological appeal for people of the time.
The Columbian Exposition showcased a city just 60 years old, a city
magnificently reborn just 22 years after the Chicago Fire. It also placed
before the world the genius of Chicago
architects Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, and Louis Sullivan. In
effect, the Columbian Exposition was Chicago's
debut on a world stage as a locus of great architecture and burgeoning
economic power. Illinois Institute of Technology, the professional home of Mies van der Rohe, is a perfect host to showcase the Exposition.
The purpose of this project is also to electronically preserve rare and
fragile materials for the benefit of Illinoisans and to make their contents
easily and immediately available. The website is intended to be readable in
the same linear way that the books. Images are also available in several
sizes to accommodate a variety of users. Text has been converted in most
cases exactly as it appeared in the original works.
This site is also under development. Although materials are primarily
available in HTML or image format, this site will also incorporate a search
engine to allow users to search the text as well as an image database.
- The Dream City:
a portfolio of photographic views of the World's Columbian Exposition/with
an introduction by Halsey C. Ives. St. Louis,
Mo.: Published weekly by N. D. Thompson
Publishing Co., 1893-1894. 300 p. of
photos; 29 x 35cm.
- The Vanishing Fair/
by H. H. Van Meter; illustrated and embellished by William and Charles Ottman. Chicago:
The Literary Arts Co.,1894. 40 p. including
double front.; 27 cm. A poem about the destruction by fire of most of
the Exposition's buildings during the Pullman Strike of July 1894.
- The Book of the Fair: an historical and
descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as
viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, designed to
set forth the display made bythe Congress of
Nations, of human achievement in material form, so as to more
effectually to illustrate the profess of mankind in all the departments
of civilized life / by Hubert Howe Bancroft ... Chicago, San
Francisco : The Bancroft Company, 1893. 10 v.
[approx., 1000p.] :illus. (incl. ports.), 41
cm.
- Art and Architecture/ by William
Walton. [Columbus
Edition]. Philadelphia : G. Barrie, 1893. 10 v. : ill., map, fronts. ; 49 cm. At head of title:
World's Columbian Exposition MDCCCXCIII. Official illustrated
publication. "Printed only for subscribers."
To find other works on the World's Fair
available at the Paul V. Galvin Library, search I-Share, IIT's integrated library system.
More detailed Information about this project:
Project Contact
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