Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World
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- Synopsis
- 'Remarkable' Literary Review 'Startlingly original' Amanda Foreman Some called it a craze. To others it was a cult. Join prize-winning historian Kathryn Hughes to discover how Britain fell in love with cats and ushered in a new era. ‘He invented a whole cat world’ declared H. G. Wells of Louis Wain, the Edwardian artist whose anthropomorphic kittens made him a household name. His drawings were irresistible but Catland was more than the creation of one eccentric imagination. It was an attitude – a way of being in society while discreetly refusing to follow its rules. As cat capitalism boomed in the spectacular Edwardian age, prized animals changed hands for hundreds of pounds and a new industry sprung up to cater for their every need. Cats were no longer basement-dwelling pest-controllers, but stylish cultural subversives, more likely to flaunt a magnificent ruff and a pedigree from Persia. Wherever you found old conventions breaking down, there was a cat at the centre of the storm. Whether they were flying aeroplanes, sipping champagne or arguing about politics, Wain’s feline cast offered a sly take on the restless and risky culture of the post-Victorian world. No-one experienced these uncertainties more acutely than Wain himself, confined to a mental asylum while creating his most iconic work. Catland is a fascinating and fabulous unravelling of our obsession with cats, and the man dedicated to chronicling them. 'If a Louis Wain cat were reading this book, he would raise his topper in tribute’ The Times 'Brilliantly researched and unforgettable' Miranda Seymour 'Consistently fascinating … A tremendous literary feat in which we learn about Victorian sociology through the work of a remarkably unique artist' Kirkus, starred review
- Copyright:
- 2024
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- Book Size:
- 416 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780008365127
- Related ISBNs:
- 9780008365103, 9780008365134, 9780008365141
- Publisher:
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Date of Addition:
- 04/24/24
- Copyrighted By:
- Kathryn Hughes
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Nonfiction, Animals, Art and Architecture, Biographies and Memoirs, Outdoors and Nature
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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- in History
- in Nonfiction
- in Animals
- in Art and Architecture
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