The Navy of Venice. E-book. Formato PDF Alethea Wiel   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

The history of Venice has been told in many ways and by many writers. Poets, novelists, and dramatists have in turn portrayed the romantic charm and tragic fate of the amphibious city. But by some inexplicable oversight her Navy — the expression par excellence of her peculiar character, the instrument by which she both built up her actual fabric and shaped her destiny — has been ignored, or has been treated only in conjunction with those of other Italian seaports. Its individuality and its import ance have thus been obscured. The object of the present work is to endeavour to make good, as far as may be, this deficiency; and to give its due prominence to a subject which should appeal, not only to specialists and experts in naval matters, but to all who feel the fascination of the sea, or who are attracted by the marvellous tale of the rise and fall of Venice. I do not, alas! Belong to the ranks of the experts and specialists: I have not even attempted to adopt their language when I describe the vessels most in use in the Venetian Navy and the exploits in which they gained renown. I have rather striven, as far as in me lies, to set before the general reader the important part that Navy played, for more than a thousand years, in developing the individuality of the Republic, and I have also striven to prove how fatally the wealth and luxury in Venice under mined the simplicity and vigour of her citizens, and how their indifference and apathy as to the maintenance of the Navy was the cause of the downfall of the city. That no work dealing exclusively with the subject has yet been written is a strange and curious fact — that it should be handled for the first time by a woman and a foreigner is stranger still.

The Story of Verona. E-book. Formato PDF Alethea Wiel   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

The story of Verona is no simple record of a simple town with a continuous rule guiding her fortunes and directing her destinies. Her tale is mingled with that of other nations and languages; and Greek, Ostrogoth, Longobard and Frank have held sway in Verona as well as Etruscan and Roman. The influence of these diverse nationalities has left its trace on the art and history of the city to a marked extent. The architecture alone of Verona is of a nature to demand a long and deep study, and calls for an expert's hand to do justice to its different developments of variety and beauty. Her school of painting too is a subject that has not yet met with sufficient attention, and that deserves a study which hitherto has been but scantily bestowed upon it. I have tried in a humble and limited way to put before the reader some idea of this school, and to render him familiar with the names and works and methods of the masters of painting with whom he will come most in contact in his wanderings through Verona. Many of their masterpieces are to be found in the grand old churches which form one of the chief features of Verona, and within whose walls it is well to linger if we wish to grasp fully the character of the town and of the men who raised these noble buildings, and who now lie buried in or beside them. The history of Verona is all-absorbing, but I have tried to give it only that prominence which is necessary for such an understanding of the town as will interest the traveller and enable him to enjoy a stay amid surroundings that will not now perhaps seem "foreign" to him.

Venice. E-book. Formato PDF Alethea Wiel   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

The Story of Venice in its entirety and complete ness has yet to be written. Even in Italian a perfect work dealing with the subject has not been accomplished, though documents and histories exist in abundance from which to compile such a work; and the following pages only attempt an outline of a story whose vastness and diversity has rarely been equalled among the nations.