Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory And Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery (Paperback)

by Blanche M. G. Linden (Author), Richard Cheek (Photographer), Carol Betsch (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Perhaps the greatest virtue of this book is its comprehensiveness.... In illuminating the furthest reaches of Mount Auburn's meaning, the author also sheds light on many other aspects of nineteenth-century American culture.... Each of the eleven chapters--especially the seven or eight that separate out for consideration specific strands of intellectual and aesthetic influence, such as that of the English garden, the French 'cult of ancestors, ' or the American sensibility to melancholy--could stand on its own as an interesting study."

Product Description
Winner of the Historic Preservation Book Award Winner of an ASLA Merit Award Originally published in 1989, this book offers an insightful inquiry into the in- tellectual and cultural origins of Mount Auburn Cemetery, the first landscape in the United States to be designed in the picturesque style. Inspired by developments in England and France, and founded in 1831, Mount Auburn became the prototype for the "rural cemetery" movement and was an important precursor of many of America's public parks, beginning with New York City's Central Park.

This new edition has been completely redesigned in a larger format, with new photographs and a new epilogue that carries the story forward into the twentieth century.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press (October 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558495711
• ISBN-13: 978-1558495715
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #872,921 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mount Auburn Cemetery: The First U.S. Rural City of the Dead, July 26, 2008

By	James R. Holland "Author of Adventure Photogr... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Thousands of visitors annually visit America's first and best example of a rural cemetery. Mount Auburn Cemetery was consecrated in 1831. It came about as a practical, down-to-earth (no pun intended) solution to a pressing problem. Boston simply had no more room left in which to bury its dead citizens. A group of business men decided it was a good idea to develop a new burial ground well outside the city limits, but close enough for people to easily visit and pray for their departed family members. It was also suggested that the new burial ground should be a pleasant place to visit and where the living could be assured that the departed were residing in a pleasant and peaceful environment. It was decided to enlist the Horticultural Society to help achieve this new concept in rural burial grounds. Since Mount Auburn was the first such cemetery in the United States it was a forerunner of not only rural burying grounds but many landscaped, public parks within city limits. Central Park in New York City was one such result of this new beautiful park concept.
If one doesn't have the patience or interest in reading the rather dry 1861 annual report-like "History of Mount Auburn Cemetery" by Jacob Bigelow, the President of the Corporation and one of the founders of that National Landmark, this is the award-winning coffee table book for you. It's lavishly illustrated with colorful prints as well as photographs and is meticulously researched and well written. More importantly, it's interesting to read. The history of Mount Auburn is fascinating and for those who have actually visited the peaceful location, it will refresh many of their personal memories. In the 19th Century more visitors came to see Mount Auburn than went to see Niagara Falls. It was, and still is, world famous as a "City of the Dead."
The reader won't be disappointed with this volume. It's a publishing gem.