Overview

A photographic tour of the Detroit Public Library’s rich art and architectural history.

Full Product Details

9780814342329

Table of Contents

Reviews

The book pays beautiful tribute to one of the city's most impressive structures.--Suzanne Chessler Detroit Jewish News (6/1/2017 12:00:00 AM) The deliberate and considered choice of building and sustaining a library system is the first order of creating a caring and knowledgeable community. From its inception, the Detroit Public Library has been a sustaining force in the city. Its success is an important measure of a civil society.--Jeffrey Scherer architect (12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) The illustrations are clearly presented and quite numerous. The reader gets a real sense of the building and its glorious architecture and artwork. Photo captions are informative without being burdensome. The book takes the library chronologically through the twentieth century, presenting information about the various renovations the building received over the years. Overall, this is an impressive work.--Edward A. Goedeken Libraries: Culture, History & Society (4/1/2020 12:00:00 AM) The [book] is a testament to an overlooked treasure.--Judith Harris Solomon HOUR Detroit (5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM) The Detroit Public Library is an inspirational edifice constructed to reflect the cultural and educational aspirations of the growing city. This pictorial captures the aesthetics of the community and the beauty of the building.--Francis J. Buckley Jr. retired associate director for public services at the Detroit Public Library (12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) The Detroit Public Library is one of the most essential structures in the city of Detroit. As an architectural tour de force, the library astonishes onlookers with its grandeur. As a cultural institution, the library is a testament to its artistry. As an epicenter of knowledge, the library reverberates with the city's collective search for the truth. Cohn and Merritt's new book is a tribute to a fundamental cornerstone of this great city.--Phillip Wm. Fisher vice chairman of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, founder of Mission Throttle, and supporter of the Detroit Public Library Friends Foundation (12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) This important chronicle of the art and architecture of one of our city's most treasured spaces will inspire not only a visit to the Detroit Public Library but also a new appreciation for Detroit's place in America's cultural history.--Salvador Salort-Pons director, president, and CEO of the Detroit Institute of Arts (12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) This is a beautiful book with splendid photographs on nearly every page. And that was the goal - to use the eyes of over a dozen Detroit photographers to showcase this overlooked treasure.--Susan Eileen Paton The Michigan Historical Review (1/10/2018 12:00:00 AM) The fruit of a popular docent-led tour, [The Detroit Public Library: An American Classic] guides readers through architect Cass Gilbert's magnificent monument to early Italian Renaissance style. . . . Jaw-dropping photos draw attention to the imposing grandeur of the interior and to the riot of ornament everywhere: decorative stonework, ornamental ironwork, frolicking cherubs, zodiac friezes. Most thrilling, though, is the tough, terse maxim inscribed over the main entrance, the perfect adage for a town built by industry: Knowledge Is Power.--Mark Dery Publishers Weekly (4/10/2017 12:00:00 AM)

The book pays beautiful tribute to one of the city's most impressive structures.--Suzanne Chessler Detroit Jewish News (06/01/2017) The deliberate and considered choice of building and sustaining a library system is the first order of creating a caring and knowledgeable community. From its inception, the Detroit Public Library has been a sustaining force in the city. Its success is an important measure of a civil society.-- (12/16/2016) The illustrations are clearly presented and quite numerous. The reader gets a real sense of the building and its glorious architecture and artwork. Photo captions are informative without being burdensome. The book takes the library chronologically through the twentieth century, presenting information about the various renovations the building received over the years. Overall, this is an impressive work.-- (04/01/2020) The [book] is a testament to an overlooked treasure.--Judith Harris Solomon HOUR Detroit (05/24/2017) The Detroit Public Library is an inspirational edifice constructed to reflect the cultural and educational aspirations of the growing city. This pictorial captures the aesthetics of the community and the beauty of the building.-- (12/16/2016) The Detroit Public Library is one of the most essential structures in the city of Detroit. As an architectural tour de force, the library astonishes onlookers with its grandeur. As a cultural institution, the library is a testament to its artistry. As an epicenter of knowledge, the library reverberates with the city's collective search for the truth. Cohn and Merritt's new book is a tribute to a fundamental cornerstone of this great city.-- (12/16/2016) This important chronicle of the art and architecture of one of our city's most treasured spaces will inspire not only a visit to the Detroit Public Library but also a new appreciation for Detroit's place in America's cultural history.--Salvador Salort-Pons director, president, and CEO of the Detroit Institute of Arts (12/16/2016) This is a beautiful book with splendid photographs on nearly every page. And that was the goal - to use the eyes of over a dozen Detroit photographers to showcase this overlooked treasure .-- (01/10/2018) The fruit of a popular docent-led tour, [The Detroit Public Library: An American Classic] guides readers through architect Cass Gilbert's magnificent monument to early Italian Renaissance style. . . . Jaw-dropping photos draw attention to the imposing grandeur of the interior and to the riot of ornament everywhere: decorative stonework, ornamental ironwork, frolicking cherubs, zodiac friezes. Most thrilling, though, is the tough, terse maxim inscribed over the main entrance, the perfect adage for a town built by industry: Knowledge Is Power.-- (04/10/2017)

Author Information

"As a native of Detroit, Barbara Madgy Cohn has a passion for art, Detroit, and libraries. She has worked as a registered nurse, has a B.A. in art history, and has been a docent at the Detroit Institute of Arts since 2008. She created the ""Discover the Wonders of the Detroit Public Library: An Art and Architectural Tour"" and continues to serve as the director of the tour program. Patrice Rafail Merritt has served as a professional librarian and library fundraiser for over thirty-five years. During her tenure as executive director of the Detroit Public Library Friends Foundation, she supported and implemented the tour program and continues to serve as a docent for library tours."

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