A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORKS, 



OF 



tototfo J. 



ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING, the most eminent of American horticulturists and professors 

 of Rural Architecture, was born in Newburgh, upon the Hudson, in the State of New York, 

 Oct. 30, 1815. He inherited a taste for horticulture from his father, who about the beginning 

 of the present century abandoned the occupation of a wheelwright for the more congenial 

 employments connected with the duties of a nurseryman, which claimed his attention until 

 his death in 1822. 



Some years after this event Andrew was placed at an academy in Montgomery, in the vici- 

 nity of Newburgh, where he continued until he had attained the age of sixteen. He had ac- 

 quired a sufficient taste for his studies to earnestly desire opportunities for their prosecution 

 at colle-e, but, as the execution of this plan did not comport with family arrangements, the 

 youth remained at home, and a^isted his brother in the care of the nursery. 



Much of his leisure time was occupied in rambles through the surrounding country, which 

 tended t<> -tren;.rthen find educate that ta-te for hot.-my and mineralogy which h- h.-id evinced 

 from an eurly age. lu these excursions he profited by the instruct ion* of his companion, the 

 . tie Liderer, the Austrian Con-ul-Cieneral, a summer resident of the neighborhood, who 

 d to the sciences which had awakened the untaught enthusi.-ism of young 

 Downing. When wearied with wandering among the hills and valleys of the Hudson, his 

 hours of study were devoted to maturing his knowledge of landscape-gardening and rural 

 architecture, iu which branches he subsequently attained such well-earned distinction. Hi.- 

 first essay in building was the erection of a house upon his own grounds, in the Elizabethan 

 which successful attempt to embody his conceptions of art greatly tended to extend 

 that reputation which his known talents and energy had already gained in the surrounding 

 country and among his more distant acquaintances. In 1*41 he published a work, which at 

 once made him known to many thousands who never had the opportunity of listening to his 

 oral teachings upon his favorite pur-uits. This was his Treatise on Landscape-Gardening, to 

 which we shall have occasion to refer presently, together with other works which amply sus- 

 tained his character as an intelligent and attractive writer. In 1836 he was invited by Mr. 

 Luther Tucker, of Albany, to assume the duties connected with the editorship of The Horti- 

 culturist, just established in that city. The proposition was accepted, and the journal con- 

 tinued under Mr. Downing's charge until his death. 



The admirable contributions of the editor have since been collected, and were published in 

 1853 in a handsome octavo volume, edited, with a Memoir of the Author, by George William 

 Curtis, and including a Letter to Downing's friends by Frederika Bremer. To Mr. Curtis's 

 volume, to which we are indebted for the above facts, we must refer the reader for further 

 particulars connected with the life of the subject of our notice. The fearful manner of his 

 death is well known. He was one of the victims on the melancholy occasion of the burning 

 of the steamer Henry Clay, on the Hudson, July 28, 1852. 



Mr. Downing may well be styled a national benefactor. If, as the poet tells us, 



" A thing of beauty is a joy forever," 



what gratitude is due to that man who causes the land to smile with gardens, and ornaments 

 every roadside with homesteads of architectural symmetry ! This is a tempting subject, but 

 our limits forbid indulgence. The works of this gifted artist, which we are now about to 



