Introduction 



Repton's important writings are based upon 

 his unique *' Red Books." When asked for his 

 opinion concerning the improvement of a place 

 he was in the habit of deUvering it in writing, 

 bound in a small book, which contained maps, 

 plans, and sketches to explain and illustrate the 

 work or alterations proposed. This he called the 

 " Red Book " of the place. More than two hun- 

 dred such books were prepared by him in the 

 course of his extensive practice. Therefore his 

 published works, comprising as they do the most 

 valuable material of the " Red Books," are not 

 mere theories of landscape gardening ; they re- 

 present the permanent results of his experience. 

 Not only from their substance are they of value, 

 but from their form also. They were written and 

 illustrated not for his professional colleagues, but 

 for his clients. Thus they have a wider appeal. 

 They are free from technical terms and from 

 small and relatively unimportant details. The 

 only limitation upon the value of these writings 

 is an inevitable scrappiness and repetition due to 

 their origin and the conditions under which they 

 were prepared for publication. As he quaintly 

 observes in the preface to his most valuable book, 

 "The Theory and Practice of Landscape Gar- 

 dening," "the whole of this work has been 

 written in a carriage during professional journeys 

 from one place to another, and being seldom more 

 than three days together in one place, the diffi- 



