{"product_id":"incidental-architect-gordon-s-brown-9780821418635","title":"Incidental Architect: William Thornton and the Cultural Life of Early Washington, D.C., 1794-1828","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhile the majority of scholarship on early Washington focuses on its political and physical development, in \u003ci\u003eIncidental Architect\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eGordon S. Brown\u003c\/b\u003e describes the intellectual and social scene of the 1790s and early 1800s through the lives of a prominent couple whose cultural aspirations served as both model and mirror for the city's own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen William and Anna Maria Thornton arrived in Washington, D.C., in 1794, the new nation's capital was little more than a raw village. The Edinburgh-educated Thornton and his accomplished wife brought with them the values of the Scottish Enlightenment, an enthusiasm for the arts, and a polished urbanity that was lacking in the little city emerging from the swamps along the Potomac. Thornton's talents were manifold: He is perhaps best known as the original architect of the Capitol building, but he also served as a city commissioner and as director of the Patent Office, where his own experimentation in steam navigation embroiled him in a long-running dispute with inventor Robert Fulton.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn spite of their general preoccupation with politics and real estate development, Washington's citizens gradually created a network of cultural institutions--theaters, libraries and booksellers, music venues, churches, schools, and even colleges and intellectual associations--that began to satisfy their aspirations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIncidental Architect\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating account of how the city's cultural and social institutions were shaped by its earliest citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gordon S. Brown\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0821418637\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780821418635\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/01\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.90h x 6.90w x 0.50d","brand":"Gordon S. Brown","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48447793201407,"sku":"9780821418635","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f19e7355-c79a-47f1-ba73-14864ecabc57.jpg?v=1777234852","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/incidental-architect-gordon-s-brown-9780821418635","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}