JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
A while ago I wrote about a brief connection that I saw in a photographic view of the 19' tunnel section of the Hudson River tunnel with the 1815 stage set by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841) for Mozart's Magic Flute1. Its just the initial reaction to the perspective pulled up the Schinkel more than anything else, except maybe for a non-existent underground image from Jan Vredeman de Vries' book on perspective. That said, the set design I'm thinking of features the arrival of the Queen of the Night/Königin der Nacht, so perhaps this association isn't too meshuga...excepting the ripped-to-shreds lust for revenge that the Queen of the Night sings about, which hasn't much to do with digging a tunnel.
Perhaps this is an association that can be made for any tunnel being dug and illuminated in the 19th century, as I stumbled upon another example of this association, a photograph2 in another NYC tunnel--this one the tunnel under construction under the East River for the East River Gas Company, 1894. It is a little antithetical that these similarities are seen between an image of starry vault surrounding the Earth while the photos depict a lighted tube surrounded by Earth, a sort of alpha and omega of endless light...a contraction of environment filled with light compared to a contraction of the limitless night sky as seen as a theatrical set. (I understand that there aren't a long series of lights in the tunnels, just that it looks so because of the no-doubt heavy-duty light source and its reflections on the odd surfaces/bolts/etc. the metal tubing surfaces...and that is a riff in itself.)
In any event, I like these images, and so I'll share the newest of my finds here this morning.
1. This is a photo of the original gouache, measuring 463 x 616 mm, which is a part of the collection of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
2. The source for the photo: Jacobs, Charles Mattathias (1850-1919), chief engineer. A general report upon the initiation and construction of the tunnel under the East River, New York, to the president and directors of the East River Gas Company (Cover title: Chief Engineer's General Report upon the Initiation and Construction of Tunnel under the East River, New York, to the President and Directors of the East River Gas Company.)New York, (no listing of publisher), 1894. 10”x 6.75” ; 2 photo plates plus 4 maps and charts including 3 maps, 2 of which are folding, plus a folding plate. The larger folding map is 40” long and is a lovely cross-section of the tunnel and the ground it covered (or uncovered) and may be worth by itself the price of admission of the pamphlet. (It has a definite impact.)
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