Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Pan-American Exposition

Brooklyn, NY: A. Wittemann, 1901. First edition. Softcover. Oblong quarto. Original string bound olive wrappers, with b/w photographic reproduction pasted to front cover. Unpaginated. [24] leaves.

Pictorial album containing 24 b/w photographic reproductions documenting the Pan-American Exposition, a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, from May 1 through November 2, 1901.

The exposition is most remembered for two main reasons:

- President William McKinley was shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. the President died 8 days later. The newly developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it might have had on him. Also, the operating room at the exposition's emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings were covered with thousands of light bulbs. Doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight onto the operating table as they treated McKinley's wounds.

- Lina Beecher, creator of the Flip Flap Railway, attempted to demonstrate one of his looping roller coasters at the fair, but the organizers of the event considered the ride to be too dangerous and refused to allow it on the grounds.

The photographs depict the following major buildings, exhibits and attractions: The Bazaar Building and Grand Canal; The Agricultural, Manufacturers, and Liberal Arts Buildings designed by George Shepley; The Electric Tower (the fair's center piece) designed by John Galen Howard; The Electricity Building designed by Green & Wicks; The Ethnology Building designed by George Cary; The U. S. Government Building designed by James Knox Taylor; The Machinery and Transportation Building designed by Green & Wicks; The Mines, Forestry and Graphic Arts Building, and Horticulture Buildings all designed by Robert Swain Peabody; The New York State Building designed by George Cary and constructed of Vermont Marble; The Propylaea, the plaza and entrance to Stadium; The Stadium, used for athletic sports was modeled after the Panathenaic Stadium; The Court of Honor; The Temple of Music which served as the center for the live performances, and designed by Esenwein & Johnson; The Woman's Building; The Fountain of Nature; The Fountain of Abundance; The Fountain of Ceres; The Midway; Eight statues (Agriculture, the Blacksmith, Despotism, the Despotic Age, Age of Knowledge, Age of Enlightenment, the Sciences, the Arts), and the 12 Midway features.

Wrappers creased and slightly chipped along edges. Age-toning and closed tears to the photograph on front cover, and white lettering mostly faded. Wrappers in overall fair, interior in very good condition. f to vg. Item #40226

Price: $75.00

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