Robert Morris's Folly by Ryan Smith

Robert Morris's Folly by Ryan Smith

In 1798 Robert Morris—“financier of the American Revolution,” confidant of George Washington, former U.S. senator—plunged from the peaks of wealth and prestige into debtors' prison and public contempt. How could one of the richest men in the United States, one of only two founders who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, suffer such a downfall?   This book examines for the first time the extravagant Philadelphia town house Robert Morris built and its role in bringing about his ruin. Part biography, part architectural history, the book recounts Morris’s wild successes as a merchant, his recklessness as a land speculator, and his unrestrained passion in building his palatial, doomed mansion, once hailed as the most expensive private building in the United States but later known as “Morris’s Folly.” Setting Morris’s tale in the context of the nation’s founding, this volume refocuses attention on an essential yet nearly forgotten American figure while also illuminating the origins of America’s ongoing, ambivalent attitudes toward the superwealthy and their sensational excesses.

“Sharply focused, wonderfully engaging documentation of the 'ruins' of this American Ozymandias”—Kirkus Reviews * Kirkus Reviews *
“Ryan K. Smith offers a readable and enlightening portrait of this busy and turbulent life in Robert Morris's Folly . . . . It is an amazing story, and Mr. Smith tells it well."—Charles R. Morris, The Wall Street Journal -- Charles R. Morris * The Wall Street Journal *

Ryan K. Smith is associate professor of history, Virginia Commonwealth University. He lives in Richmond, VA.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780300196047
ISBN 10	0300196040
Titel	Robert Morris's Folly
Autor	Ryan Smith
Serie	The Lewis Walpole Series In Eighteenth-Century Culture And History
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Yale University Press
Erscheinungsjahr	2014-09-23
Seitenanzahl	360
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar