INTRODUCTION. 



THIS little book only aims at guiding the traveller 

 to most of the old gardens of Italy and leaves it 

 to the larger works to furnish him with fuller in- 

 formation and more numerous plans. The author, 

 when illustrating " The Art of Garden Design in 

 Italy," by H. Inigo Triggs, was struck by the 

 difficulty experienced in finding the various gar- 

 dens and learning from whom permission to view 

 them was obtainable. It seemed to her that a 

 small volume including as many gardens as she 

 could hear of, and condensed within reasonable 

 limits, might find a place between the big books 

 giving technical information, and those, such as 

 Elgood's beautiful " Italian Gardens," that aim 

 more especially at the pictorial representation of a 

 subject intensely fascinating from whatever stand- 

 point it is viewed. 



The list of books relating to the gardens of 

 Italy will, it is hoped, be found useful to the 

 amateur. Many can be consulted at the library 

 of the British Museum, and others at the Ambro- 

 siana Library at Milan, the Uffizzi and Marucel- 

 liana Libraries at Florence, and other libraries 

 elsewhere. Mrs. Wharton's delightful book on 



