The Arcades Project - Operi

weekly, on Thursdays and Sundays, and, when there is a Moon, on the days after
the abovementioned weekdays. Lighting will begin at ten o'clock, and all will be
illuminated by eleven . ... Since this sort of evening Promenade is suited only to
Lords and Men of Wealth who have carriages, it is only to them that we offer this
subscription. Subscription for this year is at the rate of 18 pounds for each House;
in subsequent years, however, it will cost only 12 pOWlds, the 6 additional pounds
this year being for the initial expenses of installation" (p. 3). "The Cafes and
Theaters that border this famous promenade are justly celebrated; Yes-I say this
to their glory-it was the handsome Lanterns adorning their illustrious Booths
that gave me the idea of universal Illumination. The celebrated Chevalier Servandoni
has promised me designs for the Arcades, for the Garlands, and for the
elegant Monograms, designs worthy of his fecund genius. Is there a single one of
our wealthy style-setters who does not heartily support this brilliant Project?
Adorned in this manner, the Boulevard will become a well-appointed Ballroom,
one in which Carriages will serve as Box Seats." [T2,5J
""After the theater I went to a cafe, which was all newly decorated in Renaissance
style. The walls of the main room were entirely covered by mirrors set between
gilded columns. The cashier sits at all times behind a large and sumptuous table
placed upon a platform; before her is silverware, fruits, flowers, sugar, and the
box for the gan;ons. It is customary for every paying customer to leave a small
gratuity for the waiter; this is thrown by the latter into the box. Its contents are
later equally divided." Eduard Devrient, BrieJe aus Paris (Berlin, 1840), p. 20.
[T2a,1]
Between the February Revolution and the June Insurrection: "When the cluh
meetings were over, workers took to the streets, and the sleeping bourgeois were
either awakened by cries of 'Des lampions! Des lampions!' in consequence of
which they would have to light their windows; or else wanton gunshots roused
them from their beds in terror . . . . There were endless torchlight processions
through the streets of Paris, and on one occasion it happened that a girl allowed
herself to be undressed and shown naked to the crowd by torchlight; for the
crowd, this was merely a reminiscence of the Goddess of Liberty of the first French
Revolution . ... At one point the prefect of police, Caussidiere, issued a proclamation
against these torchlight processions-but the edict terrified the citizenry of
Paris still more, because it stated that the people were supposed to brandish
torches only in the event of some threat to the republic." Sigmund Englander,
Geschichte de,. Jranzosischen Arbeiter-Associationen (Hamburg, 1864), vol. 2,
p. 277-278. [T2a,2]
"It was still the women who cleaned the oily street lamps by day, ancl lit them at
night, climbing up and clown with the aid of an extendable rope kept locked in a
toolbox during the day-since gas, which for some years had been blazing in
English towns, had yet to he supplied. The merchants who sold the oil and the
Argancllamps wished to avoid all favorable mention of this other source of light,