Summary of Mary V. Dearborn's Mistress Of Modernism

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The Seligmans, Peggy’s family, were a German-Jewish dynasty that had established themselves as a pillar of the community by the time of Peggy’s birth in 1898. They were extremely philanthropic, and women were expected to devote themselves to pursuits of the most haut bourgeois.

#2 Joseph Seligman, the eldest brother, was a talented young man who wanted to make money. He set off for America in 1837, and after working for a Yankee boatbuilder for a year, he set off on his own. He soon had enough money to send for his brothers.

#3 The Seligmans were now officially in the banking business, just in time for a huge upsurge in the economy. In 1857, Joseph married Babet Steinhardt, a Baiersdorf girl and his first cousin.

#4 The Seligman brothers were among the first generation of American immigrants who made good in spectacular fashion. They were close advisers to presidents, and their family became known as the American Rothschilds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669374602

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Insights on Mary V. Dearborn's Mistress Of Modernism

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Seligmans, Peggy’s family, were a German-Jewish dynasty that had established themselves as a pillar of the community by the time of Peggy’s birth in 1898. They were extremely philanthropic, and women were expected to devote themselves to pursuits of the most haut bourgeois.

#2

Joseph Seligman, the eldest brother, was a talented young man who wanted to make money. He set off for America in 1837, and after working for a Yankee boatbuilder for a year, he set off on his own. He soon had enough money to send for his brothers.

#3

The Seligmans were now officially in the banking business, just in time for a huge upsurge in the economy. In 1857, Joseph married Babet Steinhardt, a Baiersdorf girl and his first cousin.

#4

The Seligman brothers were among the first generation of American immigrants who made good in spectacular fashion. They were close advisers to presidents, and their family became known as the American Rothschilds.

#5

The oldest banker in Lancaster was James Seligman, who had worked as a roofer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, before joining Joseph and William in the first Lancaster store. He had eight children, five boys and three girls.

#6

Seligman’s family was extremely rich, and they were all extremely odd. Rosa, the family’s matriarch, was obsessed with cleanliness, and she and her sons used Lysol detergent on all surfaces.

#7

The family of Meyer Guggenheim, who came to America in 1848, had a business that sold stove polish. They had a million-dollar fortune by the 1880s. In 1882, they formed the company M. Guggenheim's Sons, with each son an equal partner. They bought their first smelting operation in Pueblo, Colorado, and then one in Mexico.

#8

The family of Guggenheim brothers, who were mining leaders of the world, controlled 75 to 80 percent of the world's silver, copper, and lead by the time the First World War broke out. But William and Benjamin lost interest in this battle, and both of them retired in 1901.

#9

The house that Benita and Peggy lived in was typical of the Gilded Age palaces favored by the status-conscious rich of the era. It was huge and spooky, and the girls remember being terrified of the stuffed eagle that dominated the vestibule.

#10

The girls all admired their handsome father, a romantic figure. Benjamin Guggenheim had a reputation as a ladies’ man, and his daughters were aware of it. They were also aware of another woman in their father’s life.

#11

Peggy had a romanticized view of her parents' relationship. She thought it was romantic and exciting, and she loved the intrigue of it all. She was also very sick as a child, and her parents tried many different cures on her.

#12

Peggy Guggenheim knew little about the world around her. She had playthings, but few adults beyond nurses and governesses populated her world. She remembered distinctly the notes her