Werrett, Simon;
(2025)
Spectacle, Enthusiasm, Objectivity – Managing Fire as an Emoterial.
In: Bernasconi, G and Storni, M, (eds.)
Early Modern Fire.
(pp. 329-344).
Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Abstract
An English print of 1749 shows a fireworks display held that year in London under the title The Grand Whim for Posterity to Laugh at. The firework, which took place in Green Park, was to be the grandest in Britain up to that time, marking the Peace of Aix La Chapelle and the end of the Seven Years War. The reason for the laughter was that this turned out to be a disastrous occasion. One of the wings of the ephemeral ‘machine’ or temple that had been built for the fireworks had caught fire and burned to the ground, prompting fights among the artificers who were staging the display. In this unique image for the eighteenth century, the papers mocked the performance.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Spectacle, Enthusiasm, Objectivity – Managing Fire as an Emoterial |
| ISBN-13: | 978-90-04-52175-9 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1163/9789004521766_014 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521766_014 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Science and Technology Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10202617 |
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