Observations on Modern Gardening, by Thomas Whately
Title Details

261 Pages

19.8 x 12.7 cm

18 b/w illus.

Series: Garden and Landscape History

Series Vol. Number: 5

Imprint: Boydell Press

Observations on Modern Gardening, by Thomas Whately

An Eighteenth-Century Study of the English Landscape Garden

by Michael Symes

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Reviews
Edition, with commentary, of the first comprehensive attempt to describe the landscape garden.

Thomas Whately's Observations on Modern Gardening (1770) is the first and most comprehensive study of what has come to be known as the English landscape garden, often claimed to be this country's greatest original contribution to the fine arts. It became the standard text on the subject; its authority was accepted at home and abroad, and the book was read widely across Europe, mainly in a French translation. It influenced taste and design; taught visitors how to respond to gardens; analysed natural and built elements of the garden; suggested principles of design; and provided descriptions of major gardens of the day, such as those at Blenheim and Piercefield (Monmouthshire), together with the author's responses, aesthetic, mental and emotional. It indicates a taste for the natural and the "picturesque", foreshadowing romanticism.
This first modern edition of the text is accompanied by an introduction and full commentary, covering both general considerations and specific points and topics. Contemporary illustrations have been chosen to illuminate further the gardens and places discussed.

Michael Symes is an author, lecturer and garden historian. He founded the MA in Garden History at Birkbeck, University of London, and specialises in eighteenth-century gardens in Britain and on the continent.
Introduction
Observations on Modern Gardening by Thomas Whately
Latapie and Whately
Commentary
Further Reading
Index of Place Names
"A welcome addition to the series of key garden texts that have appeared in recent years. . . . [It is] enriched with Symes's erudite contributions." Timothy Mowl, Garden History

Hardcover

9781783271023

May 2016

Buy

£35.00 / $49.95

Shipping Options

Out of stock

Buy

Purchasing options are not available in this country.

Ebook (EPUB)

9781782046516

May 2016

Buy

£19.99 / $24.95

Ebook (EPDF)

9781782046264

May 2016

Buy

£19.99 / $24.95

Title Details

261 Pages

1.98 x 1.27 cm

18 b/w illus.

Series: Garden and Landscape History

Series Vol. Number: 5

Imprint: Boydell Press