Munsey's Magazine, September 1897

This September 1897 issue of Munsey's Magazine opens with an "Artists and Their Work" column covering the founding of an American Academy in Rome under directors including Augustus St. Gaudens and Daniel C. French, alongside reproductions of paintings from the Paris Salon by artists including Edouard Bisson, Alonzo Perez, and Jacques Wagresz. The centerpiece is Part II of Molly Elliot Seawell's "The Commune of Paris," a historical account of the 1871 Paris Commune's failed government. Seawell describes the Communists' administrative incompetence, their leadership vacuum compared to 1789 revolutionaries, continuous military defeats against government troops despite bravery, the evacuation of three hundred thousand residents fleeing mandatory conscription, and the devastating French bombardment of the city. The narrative includes the demolition of the Vendôme Column and notes American minister Washburne's efforts protecting Alsatian and Lorraine residents seeking German citizenship.