BGuthrie Photos: NY -- NYC -- Central Park -- The Mall and Literary Walk (Halleck, Burns, Scott, Shakespeare, and Columbus statues)

NY -- NYC -- Central Park -- The Mall and Literary Walk (Halleck, Burns, Scott, Shakespeare, and Columbus statues):

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 52.14.22.250 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] CPMALL_171222_02.JPG	[2] CPMALL_171222_07.JPG	[3] CPMALL_171222_13.JPG
[4] CPMALL_171222_16.JPG	[5] CPMALL_171222_19.JPG	[6] CPMALL_171222_22.JPG
[7] CPMALL_171222_29.JPG	[8] CPMALL_171222_32.JPG	[9] CPMALL_171222_38.JPG
[10] CPMALL_171222_42.JPG	[11] CPMALL_171222_43.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CPMALL_171222_02.JPG: Christopher Columbus
2. CPMALL_171222_07.JPG: William Shakespeare
3. CPMALL_171222_13.JPG: Sir Walter Scott
4. CPMALL_171222_19.JPG: Sir Walter Scott Central Park This larger-than-life-sized bronze portrait of Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) was dedicated on the "Literary Walk" in Central Park in 1872. Scott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and had an early career in the legal profession. His literary endeavors were launched when he anonymously published translations of Burger's Lenore and Der Wilde Jager, and Goethe's Gotz von Berlichgen (1799). In 1802, Scott issued the first two volumes of Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, a collection of old ballads, which reflected his interest in the native language and traditions of his country. His first significant original work was The Lay of the Last Minstrel, a narrative poem published in 1805. Over the next quarter-century, Scott established himself as the pre-eminent Scottish author, and helped transform contemporary literature. He is credited with inventing the historical novel, and was a prolific practitioner of this genre. Waverley (1814) and Ivanhoe (1819) are some of the most famous examples of Scott's romantic classics. Other well-known works include Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), and The Bride of Lammermoor (1819). In addition to his novels, he published a narrative poem, Lady of the Lake (1810), edited the author John Dryden's (1631-1700) works (1808), published several plays, the nineteen-volume set of The Life and Works of Swift (1814), the nine-volume Life of Napoleon (1827), and a History of Scotland (1830). Yet at the height of his fame as a man of letters, Scott suffered enormous financial setbacks and declared bankruptcy. He suffered two strokes in 1830, and died as a result two years later. It was only after his death that his debts were paid through the proceeds received from his numerous publications. Throughout his career Scott's work was marked with nostalgia and pride in Scotland's past married with an acute awareness of its place in the modern world. It was Scott who rediscovered the country's crown jewels, the Honours of Scotland, unearthing them from bricked-up chamber in Edinburgh Castle in 1818 after they had been lost for over 100 years. His novels based on Scotland's history made the country a tourist destination, and some credit him with popularizing the romantic view of the country's geography and culture that endures today. In celebration of the centennial of Sir Walter Scott's birth, a group of prominent Scottish citizens arranged for the placement of this sculpture in Central Park. They selected John Steell (1804-1891), a renowned sculptor from Edinburgh, to create a bronze replica of his marble of Scott (1845), the first such monument to a Scot to be created by a native artist. Steell was born in Aberdeen, and was the son of a wood carver. After studying at the Trustees Academy and also in Rome, he became a member of The Royal Scottish Academy, and was appointed in 1838 Sculptor of the Queen of Scotland. He produced numerous public and private art commissions, and managed a foundry, which introduced the art of bronze casting to Scotland. Steell's effigy of Scott in Central Park eliminates the Gothic stone canopy - which critics have likened to "a spire without a cathedral" - of the original on Princes Street in Edinburgh. Scott is depicted seated on a rock, in a flowing cloak with workingman's shoes, with book and pen in hand. Beside him sits his faithful hound. The completed statue was formally unveiled here on November 2, 1872, where it joined the sculpture of William Shakespeare, installed earlier that year. A legion of Highlanders from the 79th Regiment, the National Guard and the Caledonian Club were part of the festivities. Among the speakers was poet, editor, and civic leader William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), who commented, "and now as the statue of Scott is set up in this beautiful park, which a few years since, possessed no human associations, historical or poetic, connected with its shades, its lawns, its rocks and waters, these grounds become peopled with new memories." In 1936 NYC Parks' monuments crew repaired the base and repatinated the bronze. In 1993, both the pedestal and sculpture were again conserved through the Adopt-A-Monument Program, a joint venture of the Municipal Art Society, NYC Parks, and the New York City Art Commission (now the Public Design Commission). The restoration was funded by the Saint Andrew's Society, which has also established a fund for ongoing care.
5. CPMALL_171222_22.JPG: Robert Burns
6. CPMALL_171222_29.JPG: That lov'st to greet the early morn, Again thou usher'st in the day My Mary from my soul was torn. O Mary! dear departed shade! Where is thy place of blissful rest? See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? From Robert Burns' "To Mary In Heaven" (1779)
7. CPMALL_171222_32.JPG: Robert Burns Central Park This statue of Scottish national poet Robert Burns (1759–1796), companion to the 1872 Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) sculpture across Literary Walk, is by Sir John Steell (1804–1891), and was dedicated in 1880. Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, the son of a tenant farmer. His father died in 1784, and Burns became head of the household, but he had already started writing poetry. On July 3, 1786, he published his Poems, Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect, in nearby Kilmarnock, to enormous success in both countryside and city. Burns left his farm for Edinburgh on November 27, 1786, but the fame and attention he received there put him ill at ease; he never found a comfortable place in contemporary society's class distinctions. Poems earned Burns fame in his lifetime, but little money. He published a second, enlarged, edition in Edinburgh in 1787, but by the summer of 1788 had taken up tenant farming again, in Ellisland, Dumfriesshire, where he struggled. He kept up an active literary and intellectual life, and obtained a post in the excise service in 1789. He moved to Dumfries in 1791, and lived there until his death on July 21, 1796, of chronic rheumatic heart disease. Burns is a national hero. Known affectionately as "Rabbie," his works are unmatched by any other Scottish artist as a source of national pride. His birthday, January 25 ("Burns Night"), is celebrated throughout the country and by Scots and admirers around the world with a banquet - a haggis (a Scottish delicacy made from calf or sheep organ meat boiled in the stomach of the animal) as the centerpiece, ceremoniously addressed with Burns's odes to haggis and whisky before being served. Burns' genius was his poetic use of the rhythms and dialects of everyday speech, and it was his personal mission to revive traditional Scottish song. He traveled the country, collecting tunes, airs, fragments of expressions and songs, and created songs whole, even writing words to folk tunes which had never had lyrics. He captured something of the Scottish spirit which has endured, and each generation has claimed him again as its own, even as Scotland has struggled in a search for identity. He is credited with "Auld Lang Syne", and his best-known poems include "Scots, Wha Hae," "Tam O'Shanter," and "To a Mouse." Not long after the unveiling of Sir Walter Scott in 1872, a committee formed to erect a monument to Burns. A year later, specifying only the material and colossal size, it selected the same sculptor, John Steell, to create Scott's bronze counterpart. Steell was born in Aberdeen, the son of a wood carver, and studied at the Trustees Academy, and in Rome. He became a member of The Royal Scottish Academy, and in 1838 was appointed Sculptor of the Queen of Scotland, producing numerous public and private art commissions, and managing a foundry, which introduced the art of bronze casting to Scotland. Steell's melodramatic conception depicts Burns seated on a tree stump, quill pen in hand, eyes turned heavenward in a pose of inspiration. At his feet is a poem dedicated to his lost love, Mary Campbell, and a plough alluding to his agrarian origins. The sculpture was unveiled on October 3, 1880, and the ceremony was attended by 5,000 people, area Caledonian clubs in full Highland dress, and 100 distinguished guests, with music by Grafulla's Band. Wallace Bruce wrote "Walter Scott's Greeting to Robert Burns," whose first lines read: "We greet you Rabbie here tonight; Beneath these stars so pure and bright; we greet you, Poet, come at last; With Will [Shakespeare] and me your lot to cast." Robert Burns also joined the 1876 statue of American poet Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867), whose 1822 poem "Burns" read in part, "But what to them the sculptor's art; His funeral columns, wreaths and urns? Wear they not graven on the heart, the name of Robert Burns." In 1940, NYC Parks' monuments crew reconstructed the statue's unstable pedestal. It was rebuilt again in 1993; the quill, missing, was replicated; and the sculpture conserved through the Adopt-A-Monument Program, a joint venture of the Municipal Art Society, NYC Parks and the New York City Art Commission (now the Public Design Commission). The restoration was funded by the Saint Andrew's Society, which established a fund for ongoing care. On October 26, 1996, hundreds gathered here for the bicentennial of Burns' death; world-renowned folk singer Jean Redpath performed, and the event was supported by the Burns Society of the City of New York, the American-Scottish Foundation, the St. Andrew's Society of the State of New York, the New Caledonian Club, and Scottish Heritage USA.
8. CPMALL_171222_38.JPG: Fitz Greene Halleck
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: The Mall and Literary Walk
The Mall, a quadruple row of American elms, is Central Park's most important horticultural feature, and one of the largest and last remaining stands of American Elm trees in North America.
The elms form a cathedral-like canopy above the Park's widest pedestrian pathway. and are one of the Parks most photographed features. The quarter-mile pedestrian path is the only intentional straight line inside the Park's walls.
Taking care of these trees is a full-time job for the Central Park Conservancy's tree crew. Each of the Park's thousands of trees are entered into a database, so they can be monitored by the Conservancy. The trees of Central Park have an important impact on the urban environment. They improve the quality of our air and water; reduce storm water runoff, flooding and erosion; and lower the air temperature in the summer. This is why Central Park is called the lungs of New York City.
The southern end of the Mall is known as Literary Walk. The statue of Christopher Columbus is the odd man out, since 4 of the 5 tributes here depict prominent writers. Nearby are Scottish poet Robert Burns and his compatriot, Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott. A little farther north is Fitz-Greene Halleck, the first statue of an American to be placed in the Park. Ten years after his death, he was still so beloved that over 30,000 adoring fans came to the unveiling of his statue by President Rutherford B. Hayes and his entire cabinet. Today hardly anyone knows his poetry or his name, but everyone remembers their visit to the Mall.
If you look down, you'll see engraved granite paving stones lining the southern end of Literary Walk in order to commemorate each endowed tree in the Park. To support Central Park Conservancy's efforts to care for the Park's trees, donate to the Tree Trust to endow the care of an existing tree or to fund the planting of a new tree.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html

Statues here:
* Fitz-Greene Halleck
* Robert Burns
* Sir Walter Scott
* William Shakespeare
* Christopher Columbus

Fitz-Greene Halleck
The least known literary figure today on the Mall Halleck was a writer of satirical and romantic verse, and for many years the personal secretary to the eminent John Jacob Astor. It is the first statue of an American in Central Park. The sculpture was commissioned after his 1867 death by publisher and Central Park proponent William Cullen Bryant and General James Grant Wilson. It was created by James MacDonald. President Hayes and an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators attended its 1877 dedication.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/fitz-greene-halleck.html

Robert Burns
Robert Burns (1759-1796), Scotland's national poet, is most famous for his song Auld Lang Syne. He is placed on the Mall across from Sir Walter Scott, another Scottish literary figure. Burns is depicted sitting on a tree stump and his poem to his love, Mary, is written on a scroll at his feet.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/robert-burns.html

Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott (1771-1832), author of the popular novel Ivanhoe, is celebrated for his invention of the historical novel. The sculpture in Central Park is a bronze replica of the 1845 original in Edinburgh and was commissioned to honor the centennial of the writer's birth.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/sir-walter-scott.html

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was the first sculpture of a writer to be placed on the Mall, known informally as Literary Walk. It is fitting that two famous nineteenth-century actors, James Morrison Steele MacKay and Edwin Booth, were involved with the sculptor to create this monument to the world-renowned dramatist. Edwin Booth, America's most famous Shakespearean actor, laid the cornerstone and advised Ward on the appropriate costume for a gentleman in Elizabethan England. MacKay, a good friend of Ward, was the model and suggested the pensive pose. The sculpture was donated by the citizens of New York, led by a committee to honor the 300th anniversary of the birth of the poet and dramatist in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare is one of four sculptures by Ward in Central Park; the others are the Pilgrim at East 73rd Street near the north drive, Seventh Regiment at the West Drive at 67th Street, and Indian Hunter.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/william-shakespeare.html

Christopher Columbus
1892 was marked by celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas and to commemorate the event, Italians funded the dedication of Gaetano Russo's Columbus Circle stone monument on the perimeter of Central Park. Another statue of Columbus, by Spanish sculptor Jeronimo Sunol, was unveiled on May 12, 1894 on the Mall. The Russo monument shows Columbus looking outward with his hand on the tiller of his ship, while the Sunol monument portrays a more spiritual explorer with his outstretched arm and eyes looking upward to heaven in gratitude for his successful voyage. Sunol modified this sculpture from one he had done in 1885 in the Plaza de Colon in Madrid.
The above was from http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/christopher-columbus.html
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].