The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne


Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXIX PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. PORTRAITS. FRIENDS. G. T. BLACKSTOCK'S APPRECIATION. A S has so often been stated in the preceding pages, Van Home was blessed with a rare phys JL JL ical endowment. He was tall and massively built, and carried himself with the native dignity of a courteous, high-bred gentleman. His head was of noble proportions; his eye clear and penetrating; his features refined, mobile, and expressive of his moods. In conversation his face was constantly lighted up with a merry twinkling smile. His laugh was hearty and jovial. At work with his secretary, dictating letters to the four corners of the globe, he seemed the embodiment of energy, blowing smoke like a factory as he sought in his mind for a word--the most precise--and winding up a letter with a sentence or a phrase like a shot from a cannon. In a business interview he faced his caller, straddling his chair, leaning his arms upon the back, and alternately puffing smoke and flicking the ash from his cigar upon the carpet. His attitude in repose was frequently one of the most rapt absorption. This he would maintain for several minutes as he stood, for instance, before one of his pictures. It conveyed the impression that he saw through and beyond the obvious features of the painting, and was apt to be disconcerting to a less enthusiastic companion. Equally disconcerting were the occasions on which he would apparently ignore a question and delay replying so long that when the answer came, the questioner had forgotten the subject of his enquiry and wondered what Van Horne was talking about. At Covenhoven when, with his two pet collies bounding after him, he took a guest for a walk, he would stop here and there and apparently lose himself for a long interval in...




The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne (Classic Reprint)


Book Description

Excerpt from The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne Much of this volume, then, is frankly based on Miss Hughes's material, and wherever it has been possible I have used and adapted her rough narrative. If, there fore, these pages be deemed to have any merit, a large share of it must be credited to Miss Hughes. For their demerits I am alone to blame. Per contra, any writer who has had to rely to a large extent on material selected by another will appreciate one of the difficulties under which this book has been written. I wished to include some account of Van Horne's im pressions of his earlier visits to England and the great art centres of Europe, but no records are available. A man who travels forty or fifty thousand miles ayear and enjoys unlimited franking privileges over cable and telegraph lines is not apt to devote much time to letter writing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.




LIFE & WORK OF SIR WILLIAM VAN


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




From Telegrapher to Titan


Book Description

Winner of the 2005 Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction , the 2005 University of British Columbia Award for Best Canadian Biography, and the Canadian Railroad Historical Association Award for Best Railway Book of the Year. William Van Horne was one of North America’s most accomplished men. Born in Illinois in 1843, he became a prominent railway figure in the United States before coming to Canada in 1881 to become general manager of the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway. Van Horne pushed through construction of the CPR’s transcontinental line and went on to become company president. He also became one of Canada’s foremost financiers and art collectors, capping his career by opening Cuba’s interior with a railway.




Obsession


Book Description

Sir William Van Horne (1843–1915), a gifted connoisseur most famously associated with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, amassed of one of the most extensive collections of Japanese ceramics in North America. Obsession is an illuminating account of the how and why behind his passion for studying and acquiring nearly 1,200 objects. Ron Graham assembles a profile of Van Horne's larger-than-life personality as well as essays about his place at the top of the art collectors in Montreal's Golden Square Mile and the afterlife of his collection following his death. Accompanying the texts are historical photographs and documents, a detailed catalogue of over three hundred individual pieces in the Royal Ontario Museum and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and a selection of beautiful reproductions of Van Horne's personal notebooks and exquisite watercolours from the archives of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Obsession presents a remarkable collection in the context of the life and career of a nineteenth-century Canadian business giant.




Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America


Book Description

A Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "A powerful book, crowded with telling details and shrewd observations." —Michael Kazin, New York Times Book Review The transcontinental railroads were the first corporate behemoths. Their attempts to generate profits from proliferating debt sparked devastating economic panics. Their dependence on public largesse drew them into the corridors of power, initiating new forms of corruption. Their operations rearranged space and time, remade the landscape of the West, and opened new ways of life and work. Their discriminatory rates sparked a new antimonopoly politics. The transcontinentals were pivotal actors in the making of modern America, but the triumphal myths of the golden spike, Robber Barons larger than life, and an innovative capitalism all die here. Instead we have a new vision of the Gilded Age, often darkly funny, that shows history to be rooted in failure as well as success.