The Emperor's Beard

New York: Hill and Wang, 2004. first American edition. hardcover. Book VG+: mild shelf wear to boards and spine, remainder mark bottom edge text block, else clean, tight, square, unmarked/DJ VG: mild age toning/rubbing, NOT clipped. 8vo 436pp. from front flap: "How did Brazil create a European-style monarchy in the New World--and why has its influence endured? In the early nineteenth century, when the rest of Latin America was in a tumult of revolutions that established republics throughout the continent, Brazilians celebrated Dom Pedro II as their emperor and rightful leader. Paradoxically, this quasi-European royal figure--grandson of the king who had sought refuge in Rio de Janeiro from the Napoleonic armies conquering Portugal--eventually came to symbolize much of what was modern and specifically Brazilian about his people. [. . .] Lilia Moritz Schwarcz's innovative, richly illustrated work blends politics, anthropology, cultural studies, and art history to show how this strange amalgam of European monarchy and New World innovation was invented and sustained." #02449.