XV 



PUBLIC PARKS 



' I ^HE problem of creating public parks while, in 

 many respects, the same as that of estates or 

 even of gardens, should always be carefully 

 correlated with the rights and desires of the public. 

 Historically, the public park is modern. A hundred 

 years ago there were few public parks in the strict sense 

 of the term, either in Europe or America. People were 

 simply allowed to use Kings* and Princes' parks. 

 Naturally, such parks had not been designed in the 

 beginning for the use of the people, although they were 

 of great size and magnificence like Versailles. The 

 first man we can find who really seemed to comprehend 

 and present intelligibly the idea of a public park in 

 America was Andrew Jackson Downing, and no better 

 expression has been given of appreciation of what he 

 did for people's parks in both America and Europe than 

 the eloquent words of William A. Stiles in the pages of 

 The Garden and Forest. 



"No one," he says, "who has looked into the his- 

 tory of public parks in American cities and the 

 development of the public sentiment which brought 



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