viii preface 



plants, the real essence of landscape gardening has been 

 allowed to escape like a lost fragrance. If there are 

 quantities of beautiful foliage and flowers available it 

 has been thought only necessary to have what is called 

 "good taste" to be able to arrange them on a lawn. 

 The idea seems seldom to have been considered that 

 models in the form of scenes on large and small estates 

 should be studied in the light of the best literature 

 on the subject before attempting to do landscape 

 work. 



Further proof of the ignorance of the general public of 

 the essence of landscape gardening is shown by the lack 

 of interest in the writings of the greatest of landscape 

 gardeners, Whately, Repton, and Prince Puckler. 

 The latter has not even been translated into English; 

 Whately has been read in no new edition for more than 

 one hundred years, and Repton, after almost an equal 

 length of time, has been published by Houghton & Mif- 

 flin in an edition by John Nolen, a well-known land- 

 scape architect in Boston, Massachusetts, who has 

 written an illuminating introduction of Repton's work, 

 including his sketches and hints and his theory and 

 practice of landscape gardening. The writings of 

 Olmsted & Vaux, the designers of Central Park, New 

 York City, whose pronouncements on the subject of 

 landscape gardening are of the highest value, have 

 never been collected from their reports, letters, and 

 addresses. William A. Stiles, editor of the Garden and 

 Forest Magazine, 1 888-1 898, where he frequently dis- 

 cusses with comprehension, and great literary skill, 



