Schickler Family Tomb in Hawaii
One of the more evocatively funerary monuments in Pere-Lachaise is the Schickler Family Tomb. The most distinctive feature of the mausoleum is the mournful twin caryatids. The figure on the left holds a down-turned torch, symbolizing an earthly life extinguished, but still burning in the afterlife. The mausoleum is the permanent home of a number of members of the extended Schickler family, but it was originally built for Baron Gaston Ferdinand Schickler, who died in 1852. Records indicate that the architect was Jean-Baptiste Marchebeus.
Although largely unknown today, Augustin Eugene Scribe was one of France’s best known playwrights in the early nineteenth century. He was born into a well-to-do family and educated as a lawyer, but turned to writing plays while in his late teens. Like most in the arts, he struggled at first, and his plays were less than memorable. He found his most success when collaborating with others but also wrote on his own. He found his first true successes with comedies, most of which focused on the mores and foibles of the bourgeoisie. He became a master of comedies vaudevilles, a type of short theatrical skits that combined acting. Indeed, Scribe was so successful that he couldn’t churn out his plays fast enough. To that end, he started what was called Scribe’s Factory, where one person supplied the outline of a story, another wrote the dialogue and another wrote the lyrics to songs. More literary writers such as Victor Hugo openly criticized Scribe’s work just as nowadays a serious writer might scoff at the mainstream accomplishments of a romance writer. Nevertheless, Scribe’s over 300 pieces helped transform traditional vaudeville into elaborately scripted plays with complex plots. Scribe was also a successful libretist, and worked with, among others, Verdi and Rossini. His obelisk-topped monument has a medallion sculpted by Antoine Salomon (1818-1881). Rue Scribe, which is next to the Opera Garnier in city’ 9th arrondissement, is named in his honor.
Savannah Map Savannah’s newfound prosperity was reflected in its population and improved physical appearance. Best place in Hawaii From an initial seeding of 114 settlers in 1733, it had grown to a bustling seaport of some 3,500 inhabitants by the eve of the Country Revolution. The once empty waterfront was now lined with tidy warehouses holding valuable commodities bound for destinations throughout the Atlantic world. Just as Savannah’s economy was slow to develop, so, too, was its culture.
Early shipments contained few books other than tracts intended to foster obedience and industry in the colonists. Education was largely in the hands of private tutors. By the 1740s, Savannah took a few important developmental steps. The Bethesda Orphanage and school instructed parentless children in theology and the classics, and an informal public lending library was run out of the Savannah rector’s residence. Two other libraries soon developed. Savannah achieved its first true literary landmark with the 1763 launch of the Georgia Gazette, the province’s first regular newspaper.
