Customer Reviews

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record (Dover Architectural Series)

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Beautiful photos and thoughtful text. This book does a nice job of condensing the story and mood of the fair into a quick and easy to read format. I own several books about the fair and while some have more photos, this is still my favorite. A must have for those interested in the Columbian Exposition, Chicago history and architecture. The vastness of the White City is something I can scarcely imagine. I especially appreciated that the author details the fates of many of the fair's artistic treasures as well as discussing the changed landscape of the geographical site of the fair.

One book leads to another. After reading The Devil in the White City, I wanted to see the Exposition described in the book. It definitely was an amazing sight to see and this book satisfied most of that curiosity. To go one better, I might look for a book that goes even further into that time in life. The city is every bit the accomplishment as described in the afore mentioned book. Where is the America of that artful integrity, that is, to do the best that can be accomplished? Gone to disposable products including much of architecture.

I became interested in the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893 through a friend and I bought this book for him and a copy for myself and was amazed by the beautiful and amazing buildings and the fact that all of these structures stood in my city and then were destroyed. I then read the Devil in the White City and pulled this book out as a reference and found the map of the exposition in the front of the book to be a cool way to look up some of the displays or events mentioned in the book (devil in the white city). As I understand it, Burnham only allowed the exposition to be photographed per his approval, therefore, there are only a limited number of pictures that any book could publish on the topic. I think that this book offers big, beautiful pictures and interesting facts about the displays.

In an unprecedented short period of time, the finest architects of the day (including Frederick Law Olmsted of Central Park fame) designed and built the many buildings that made up the Chicago World's Fair. This book shows the success of their Herculean efforts. Further, it is the perfect companion to "Devil in the White City" (the white city is the World's Fair). While reading "Devil," I went on-line often to find pictures of the buildings being discussed, the first Ferris Wheel (which held over 2,000 people!), etc., but was disappointed in how few pictures I was able to find. "The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record" made the on-line search unnecessary. Since then, I have given the "Photographic Record" together with "Devil in the White City" to several people and recommended it to many more. Everyone agrees that the "Photographic Record" is the perfect companion as well as a great book on its own.

this book by far is my favorite book on the worlds fair the detail and quality of the book is amazing. this is a great buy

I had read Erik Larson's "Devil In the White City", an intriguing exciting book which led me to want more of the Chicago's World Fair - which I got so exquisitely documented in the Appelbaum's book. It was like being there, in all its glory, walking through every section, delighting in the magnificent architecture, a mini-miracle in beautiful photographs and detail.

I purchased this photographic record as an accompaniment to the "Devil in the White City" as others have done. I own an original copy of the "Photographs of the World's Fair" published and sold by subscription only by the "Werner Company" of Chicago. The copyright is 1894. The photographs in the Dover publication are far superior as to clarity as one would expect. The difference is the amount of photos taken of the various participants from around the world in my copy. There are 175 pages of photographs, many with multiple photos.
As a child in the 1940's, I grew up in Hyde Park/Jackson Park area and visited the "Palace of Fine Arts", AKA, "Museum of Science and Industry" many times and not until I read "The Devil in the White City" and the Dover photographic record did I realize how important the fair was to the city and to the world. These two books are well worth the purchase price.

I highly recommend this book, particularly as a companion to "The Devil in the White City." The only minor problem I had with it was the lack of photos for all of the state and national buildings.

Having just read "The Devil in The White City" I really wanted to see pictures of the World's Fair. This book delivered and was much easier than trying to dig through Google for the pictures I wanted. Highly recommended if all you want is a little back story and lots of pictures.

A beautiful collection of images, showing the wonders of the 1893 fair. A great look back.