Book-It 'o13! Book #3
The Fifty Books Challenge, year four! (Years one, two, three, and four just in case you're curious.) This was a secondhand find.
Title: Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County by Donna M Ware
Details: Copyright 1990, Anne Arundel County
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "This book is a richly illustrated account of the historic buildings, archaeological sites, and watercraft in Anne Arundel County. The 54 properties featured share the distinction of having been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and a select few such as Whitehall and Tulip Hill have attained higher recognition as National Landmarks. This book includes an inventory of all 728 historic sites in the county, an illustrated glossary, and bibliography."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I was born and raised in Anne Arundel County and have lived here most of my life. A surprising amount of documented history exists and yet isn't really explored.
How I Liked It: This is a "self-published" book from twenty-three years ago. Even if the area covered wasn't one that has underwent a pretty vast expansion in the years since, it would be fairly hard to find a use for the book today, at least in theory.
But let's think back twenty-three years ago, to the pre-internet days when there was really no other way to get this information other than book form. Trying to maintain a sense of the fact the book was meant to be a "current" medium and not necessarily something that would be looked upon as a serious reference twenty-three years later, the book does decently.
The author lavishes attention upon mostly 19th century structures, her fondness for architecture clearly apparent. As a "modern" resource at the time, pictures of how the structures looked in 1990 (or just before) abound, with few pictures of the places in historical context. But the few historical picture there are are amazing and often chilling (servants stare indifferently into the camera's lens, proprietors gaze in almost wonder as to what the camera could possibly capture). Included are sketches, ranging from the historical (a rare sketch-plan for one of the homes featured by the architect) to the modern (a pencil depiction of a atlatl in action in the section featuring the archaeological sites).
Does the book hold up? Given the rapid sprawl, even a book from ten years ago runs the risk of being "outdated". Still, this book serves as a decent jumping off point to Anne Arundel county history and photographs like these are something of which one can never have too much.
Notable: No book about Maryland properties would ever be complete without mentioning watercraft.
Title: Anne Arundel's Legacy; the Historic Properties of Anne Arundel County by Donna M Ware
Details: Copyright 1990, Anne Arundel County
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "This book is a richly illustrated account of the historic buildings, archaeological sites, and watercraft in Anne Arundel County. The 54 properties featured share the distinction of having been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and a select few such as Whitehall and Tulip Hill have attained higher recognition as National Landmarks. This book includes an inventory of all 728 historic sites in the county, an illustrated glossary, and bibliography."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I was born and raised in Anne Arundel County and have lived here most of my life. A surprising amount of documented history exists and yet isn't really explored.
How I Liked It: This is a "self-published" book from twenty-three years ago. Even if the area covered wasn't one that has underwent a pretty vast expansion in the years since, it would be fairly hard to find a use for the book today, at least in theory.
But let's think back twenty-three years ago, to the pre-internet days when there was really no other way to get this information other than book form. Trying to maintain a sense of the fact the book was meant to be a "current" medium and not necessarily something that would be looked upon as a serious reference twenty-three years later, the book does decently.
The author lavishes attention upon mostly 19th century structures, her fondness for architecture clearly apparent. As a "modern" resource at the time, pictures of how the structures looked in 1990 (or just before) abound, with few pictures of the places in historical context. But the few historical picture there are are amazing and often chilling (servants stare indifferently into the camera's lens, proprietors gaze in almost wonder as to what the camera could possibly capture). Included are sketches, ranging from the historical (a rare sketch-plan for one of the homes featured by the architect) to the modern (a pencil depiction of a atlatl in action in the section featuring the archaeological sites).
Does the book hold up? Given the rapid sprawl, even a book from ten years ago runs the risk of being "outdated". Still, this book serves as a decent jumping off point to Anne Arundel county history and photographs like these are something of which one can never have too much.
Notable: No book about Maryland properties would ever be complete without mentioning watercraft.