1889 Exposition Universelle Bibliography

 

*I was fortunate enough to teach a 1001 Nights film and literature course last Fall (2021). And I'm even more fortunate to have had such great students. They've let me share their work with you. Bibliography, Annotated Bibliography, and a further report on one article related to their topic (which in some cases is loosely Nights-related). I'll be posting them over the next few weeks. 

**I messed up the formats with my copying and pasting but you know. - M

Here is Shaanel's work on the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle - 

Shaanel Saroch

Professor Michael Lundell

English 260

14 December 2021

Research Project

Part One: Extended Bibliography

“About Us about the Bie Who We Are How We Work Our History the 1928 Paris Convention FAQS about Expos What Is an Expo? How Is an Expo Organised? A Short History of Expos.” Official Site of the Bureau International Des Expositions, https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1889-paris. 

Anido, Julien. “The Exposition Universelle of 1889: Un Jour De plus à Paris.” Un Jour De plus à Paris | L'incontournable Des Visites Culturelles Et Touristiques à Paris. Balades, Visites Guidées, Découvertes Insolites... Visitez Paris Autrement !, 29 July 2020, https://www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/en/paris-reportage/exposition-universelle-1889. 

Bibesco, Georges. Exposition Universelle 1889. Impr. Typ. J. Kugelmann, 1890. 

Catalogue général Officiel: Exposition rétrospective Du Travail Et Des Sciences Anthropologiques. Imprimerie L. Danel, 1889. 

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Exposition-of-1889. 

“Exposition Universelle (1889).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889). 

Exposition Universelle De 1889, https://www.nga.gov/research/library/imagecollections/photographs-of-international-expositions/exposition-universelle-de-1889.html. 

Jonnes, Jill. Eiffel's Tower and the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count. Viking, 2009. 

"Mephisto", the Marvellous Automaton, Exhibited at the International Theatre, Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1889. T. Pettitt & Co, 1889. 

“Paris 1889 Exposition: History, Images, Interpretation.” Ideas, http://www.arthurchandler.com/paris-1889-exposition. 

“Paris Exposition of 1889.” Paris Exposition of 1889 (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress), https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/250_paris.html. 

Paris-exposition... / Exposition universelle de 1889. A. Colin (Paris), 1889.

Paris: Capital of the 19th Century, https://library.brown.edu/cds/paris/worldfairs.html. 

“The Rue Du Caire at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1889): Patrimoines Partagés تراث مشترك.” The Rue Du Caire at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1889) | Patrimoines Partagés تراث مشترك, https://heritage.bnf.fr/bibliothequesorient/en/street-of-cairo-art. 

Sabry, Randa. “Le Témoignage d’Amīn Fikrī Sur l’Exposition Universelle de 1889 et La Rue Du Caire : Petite Polémique Avec Timothy Mitchell.” Arabica, vol. 2018, no. 3, Brill, 2018, pp. 368–91, https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341493.

Sayers, Isabelle S. Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Dover, 1981. 

“World's Fair - Official Eiffel Tower Website.” La Tour Eiffel, 8 Apr. 2020, https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-monument/universal-exhibition. 

Part Two: Annotated Bibliography

Paris-exposition... / Exposition universelle de 1889. A. Colin (Paris), 1889.

The author created this book as a guide to visitors of the Exposition Universelle in 1889. The beginning of the book has maps of the exposition so that the reader can see where the different things to do and see are located. Further on there is a map of different areas in Paris associated with the exposition. The author details what he believes are the most interesting things to see at the exposition so that visitors need not waste time on less interesting displays. There is also a schedule of when certain events are happening and a description of the public transportation that could be used to get to the exposition. This guide is very useful in finding out what exactly went on at the exposition. 

Jonnes, Jill. Eiffel's Tower and the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count. Viking, 2009. 

This book provides the back story of why the Exposition Universelle was created. The book also details different major personalities that were present at the exposition such as Buffalo Bill, Gustave Eiffel and Thomas Edison. While these personalities are famous now and were well known at the time as well, the book also lists people that were relatively unknown at the time who are now famous. Some of these people were Van Gogh, Whistler and Gaugin. The book makes the reader feel as if they are personally experiencing the Exposition Universelle in 1889. 

Sabry, Randa. “Le Témoignage d’Amīn Fikrī Sur l’Exposition Universelle de 1889 et La Rue Du Caire : Petite Polémique Avec Timothy Mitchell.” Arabica, vol. 2018, no. 3, Brill, 2018, pp. 368–91, https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341493.

This article discusses a man named Amin Fikri’s visit to the 1889 Exposition Universelle. He details the Rue du Caire which was a street, built for the exposition, meant to emulate a busy street in Cairo. Buildings on the street were made from demolished buildings from Egypt. The author also discusses how the previous expositions in Paris had different versions of the Rue du Caire. In the 1867 exposition there was a medieval Egyptian palace. This article is a good resource for visualizing the Egyptian displays at the various expositions. 

Part Three

Paris: Capital of the 19th Century, https://library.brown.edu/cds/paris/worldfairs.html. 

Author: The author of this piece is Pauline De Tholozany. This text was created as a collaboration between the departments of French Studies and Comparative Literature at Brown University. These departments relevance to the topic is that the Exposition Universelle in 1889 occurred in Paris, France and the authors use different sources of literature to detail the events. The author seems like an expert in this field because they comprehensively cover all the various expositions that occurred in France from 1855 to 1900. The French Studies department’s contact information is french_francophone_studies@brown.edu. Their online bio is located at https://www.brown.edu/academics/french-studies/. The Comparative Literature department’s contact information is Comp_lit@Brown.edu. Their online bio is located at https://complit.brown.edu/. I did not attempt to contact them. 

Thesis: The thesis of this text is that the purpose of the Expositions Universelle in Paris was to showcase technology and art and to boost the economy. The thesis is built by highlighting the various events and displays that were held during the Expositions Universelle. The evidence the authors use to support their thesis are several primary and secondary sources from the Brown University library such as books with firsthand accounts of the expositions and different artwork that show scenes from the expositions. The question that the author is responding to is “why were the expositions in Paris held?”

Critique: Elements of this text that are good specifically is that the text covers the politic climate, attitudes towards the fairs, and the most interesting events at the fairs. This allows the reader to feel like they were present at the fairs and as if the reader has an eye into the inner working of the fair organizers. Another good element of this text is that the authors used excellent sources while writing the text so there is a lot of interesting and informative data. There were not really any issues to address on this topic in this text other than dispelling rumors of people feeling negatively towards the Eiffel tower and talk of wanting to prevent its construction. The issue is addressed by saying what the actual public sentiment around the Eiffel tower was. One thing that is lacking in my text is any talk of public figures that were present at the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Personalities such as Wild Bill Hickok, Thomas Edison, and Vincent Van Gogh were all present at this exposition and it would have been interesting to read more about their interaction with the exposition. 

Timeliness: This text was written in 2011. The text utilized other relevant scholarship as resources for creating this piece. I don’t believe that timeliness is relevant or important to investigate for this text’s focus because the article is reporting on events that occurred a long time ago for historical purposes. This text does not really have any effect on current events, so timeliness is not an issue. 

Relevance: This text is extremely relevant to the topic of Exposition Universelle 1889. The text not only details the Exposition Universelle that occurred in 1889 it also describes the other expositions that occurred in France and performs some comparison of the fairs in order to understand the different impacts of the fairs on the events of that time period. The only new information that this article gives on the topic is discussing the Exposition Universelle 1889 in relation to the other expositions. I did not find information like this in any of the other texts that I read.

Future Ideas: A course on the topic of the Exposition Universelle that occurred in 1889 could incorporate this text in the beginning of the course as a historical background to this particular exposition and its relation to the other expositions that occurred. An essay assignment on this text might pose questions like “which exposition had the greatest effect on French culture,” “What is the most significant technological advance that came from the Exposition Universelle that occurred in 1889,” or “What impact did the Exposition Universelle in 1889 have on the art world at that time.” All of these questions would make for essays that I would be interested in reading. 

What I Learned: One new thing that I learned about my topic from this specific text is that the Exposition Universelle took some of the power away from the Salon. The Salon was the only way to get your art publicly exhibited in France around this time. It was very difficult to get one’s art in the Salon and the people who chose the art that would be displayed were very political and exclusionary. During the Exposition Universelle artists were able to display their art without the judgement and control of the Salon. This had a huge impact on the art world at that time. What I might do in the future with this information is to apply this knowledge to the art history class I will be taking next semester. Previously I took a class on art that discussed the Salon but did not go in depth about it. As I take various courses, I feel like I learn a little bit in each class that adds up like pieces of a puzzle and eventually I have a greater understanding of a bigger picture of what happened during certain times in history. 

An Overview of Research Methodologies: I found this source by googling the Exposition Universelle in 1889. I chose this article because it came from a reputable source such as the French Studies and Comparative Literature departments at Brown University. I also chose this article because it discussed all the expositions instead of just mentioning the exposition that I was studying. I felt like learning about the other expositions gave context to the specific exposition that I was interested in.