"Pere Lachaise: Elysium As Real Estate" 1973 BROWN, Frederick (SOLD)
Price on Request
BROWN, Frederick
The Viking Press
1973
9 1/2" x 7 3/4"
Fine/ Fine
The cemetery of Pere-Lachaise is an extraordinary corner of Paris where, for more than a century and a half, the French have buried the rich and the famous
Frederick Brown's Pere Lachaise: Elysium as Real Estate is a brilliant cultural history of Paris's most famous cemetery. It examines the necropolis as a mirror of French society, exploring how the bourgeoisie mapped their earthly ambitions, class divides, and desire for immortality onto the ultimate resting place. The book notably recounts the marketing brilliance behind the cemetery's success. To convince a reluctant Parisian public to bury their dead outside city limits, administrators relocated the remains of revered writers like Molière and Jean de La Fontaine. The ploy worked, transforming the grounds into an exclusive, highly sought-after "real estate" development where the country's literary and political elite could construct lavish monuments to their legacy.