Cyclorama

1890 · réf. 63121 — Munich: Franz Hanfstaengl 1892; 1890. Two vols. 1st - Oblong 4to. 8.75 x 7.75 in. 16 pp unpaginated. on thick card stock printed title with 8 albumen photographs sized 8.5 x 6.25 in. bound leporello accordion-style joined by linen hinges forming a mounted continuous panorama w/ printed identifications below in margin. Black publisher’s cloth gilt lettering stamped on front cover minor shelfwear slight rubbing light age toning on title scuff at lower front cover still VG copy; 2nd - 12mo. 23 1 pp. With 3 large folding panoramic map diagrams and map of Rome in time of Constantine. Illustrated softcovers cover art image of Rome minor toning & chipping to covers spine w/ closed tear some rubbing pulled from the staples still G copy w/ panoramic guide maps in excellent condition. First editions of these two works reproducing and detailing the famed 1888 Cyclorama panorama by the noted architect Buhlmann and artist Alexander von Wagner designed and intended to feed public appetite for visual spectacle in the 19th Century prior to the emergence of film and cinema. With exquisite attention to detail this massive piece emulated the performance Cycloramas touring the Americas and Europe such as the “Battle of Gettysburg” “Missionary Ridge” and offered the viewers an immersive experience. This triumph capped the victorious 312 A.D. campaign by Emperor Constantine in which he had defeated the competing Emperor Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge where Constantine had his vision of the Cross and converted to Christianity and adopted the banner standard bearing the initial letters in the name of Christ. Of additional interest is that even though the original was eventually destroyed von Wagner’s & Buhlmann’s work inspired Yadegar Asisi to create his massive 27 meter by 107 meter 2014 panorama opened in Dresden at the Dresden Panorama Museum where Rome’s cityscape can be viewed from a tower below a dome. See: Angela Miller The Panorama the Cinema and the Emergence of the Spectacular Movies Before Cinema: Part I Wide Angle Quarterly Journal Vol. 18 No. 2 1996 pp. 34-69; Thompson Thewes et al Digital Presentations in Architectural and design of Exhibition Area’s Memory and the Panorama Selected Proceedings Panorama International Panorama Council Journal Volume 2 2018. Franz Hanfstaengl, paperback