Robert Morris's folly : the architectural and financial failures of an American founder / Ryan K. Smith.

Main entry:

Smith, Ryan K.

Title & Author:

Robert Morris's folly : the architectural and financial failures of an American founder / Ryan K. Smith.

Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2014]

Description:

346 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm.

Series:

Lewis Walpole series

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-335) and index.
His capital -- His family -- His family -- His plans -- His house -- His architect -- His folly -- His entreaties -- His ruins -- His release.

Summary:

"In 1798 Robert Morris-"financier of the American Revolution," confidant of George Washington, former U.S. senator-plunged from the peaks of wealth and prestige into debtors' prison and public contempt. How could one of the richest men in the United States, one of only two Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, suffer such a downfall? This book examines for the first time the fabulously extravagant Philadelphia townhouse Robert Morris built and its role in bringing about his ruin. Part biography, part architectural history, the book recounts Morris's wild successes as a merchant, his recklessness as a land speculator, and his unrestrained passion in building his palatial, doomed mansion, once hailed as the grandest and most expensive private building in the United States but later known as "Morris's Folly." Setting Morris's tale in the context of the nation's founding, this volume refocuses attention on an essential yet nearly forgotten American figure while also illuminating the origins of America's ongoing, ambivalent attitudes toward the superwealthy and their sensational excesses"-- Provided by publisher.

ISBN:

9780300196047 (hardback)
0300196040 (hardback)

Subject:

Morris, Robert, 1734-1806 Finance, Personal.
Morris, Robert, 1734-1806 Homes and haunts Pennsylvania Philadelphia.
Morris, Robert, 1734-1806.
Founding Fathers of the United States Finance, Personal.
Founding Fathers of the United States Homes and haunts Pennsylvania Philadelphia.
Pères fondateurs des États-Unis Finances personnelles.
Pères fondateurs des États-Unis Résidences et lieux familiers Pennsylvanie Philadelphie.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Historical.
HISTORY United States 19th Century.
HISTORY Social History.
Finance, Personal.
Homes.
Pennsylvania Philadelphia.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical^HISTORY / United States / 19th Century^HISTORY / Social History.

Form/genre:

collective biographies.
Biographies.

Added entries:

Lewis Walpole series in eighteenth-century culture and history.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 287269
Call No.: BIB 228182
Status: Available

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