Author | Jan Morris |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Subject | History |
Publisher | Faber |
Publication date | 1960, 1974, 1983, 1993, 2008 |
Pages | 337 |
Venice (1960) is a celebrated book by the Welsh author Jan Morris (1926-2020) on the history, culture and meaning of Venice, Italy. It won the 1961 Heinemann Award, became an international best-seller and was cited as one of The Guardian ’s top 100 non-fiction books in 2011 (the endorsement read: "An eccentric but learned guide to the great city's art, history, culture and people" [1] [2]).
Often hailed as one of the best travel books ever written, The Times described it as “a classic love letter to Italy’s most iconic city”. Originally published by Faber and Faber as by James Morris, she transitioned in 1972 [3] and subsequently revised the book as Jan Morris four times. She described it in the original introduction as “not a history book, but it necessarily contains many passages of history. These I have used magpie-style, embedding them in the text where they seem to me to glitter most effectively…. It is not a guide book, either: but … I have listed the Venetian sights that seem to me most worth seeing… nor is it exactly a report”. Rather, it is "a highly subjective, romantic, impressionistic picture less of a city than of an experience."
Morris first visited Venice as a young British Army intelligence officer in 1945. Her biographer reports that she was "immediately captivated by the city. He found it intoxicating". She returned in 1959 with her family, living in the city for many months and writing in this work about "what she calls the lust of Venice at that time, the beauty of the canals, the buildings, and especially the lagoon that left him speechless with pleasure". [4]
Venice is divided into three main sections — The People, The City, The Lagoon:
Appended are a concise chronology of the city's history with relevant page references, an index and map references.
Author | Jan Morris |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Subject | History |
Publisher | Faber |
Publication date | 1960, 1974, 1983, 1993, 2008 |
Pages | 337 |
Venice (1960) is a celebrated book by the Welsh author Jan Morris (1926-2020) on the history, culture and meaning of Venice, Italy. It won the 1961 Heinemann Award, became an international best-seller and was cited as one of The Guardian ’s top 100 non-fiction books in 2011 (the endorsement read: "An eccentric but learned guide to the great city's art, history, culture and people" [1] [2]).
Often hailed as one of the best travel books ever written, The Times described it as “a classic love letter to Italy’s most iconic city”. Originally published by Faber and Faber as by James Morris, she transitioned in 1972 [3] and subsequently revised the book as Jan Morris four times. She described it in the original introduction as “not a history book, but it necessarily contains many passages of history. These I have used magpie-style, embedding them in the text where they seem to me to glitter most effectively…. It is not a guide book, either: but … I have listed the Venetian sights that seem to me most worth seeing… nor is it exactly a report”. Rather, it is "a highly subjective, romantic, impressionistic picture less of a city than of an experience."
Morris first visited Venice as a young British Army intelligence officer in 1945. Her biographer reports that she was "immediately captivated by the city. He found it intoxicating". She returned in 1959 with her family, living in the city for many months and writing in this work about "what she calls the lust of Venice at that time, the beauty of the canals, the buildings, and especially the lagoon that left him speechless with pleasure". [4]
Venice is divided into three main sections — The People, The City, The Lagoon:
Appended are a concise chronology of the city's history with relevant page references, an index and map references.