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CHAPTER VI 



FRENCH GARDENS OF THE LATER 

 SEVENTEENTH & EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 



ESIDES the immense garden schemes at Vaux, Chantilly 

 and Versailles, Le Notre in the course of his long and 

 busy life laid out gardens over the whole of France, and 

 established a standard and tradition of garden design 

 in the " grand manner " which were accepted as a 

 matter of course throughout Europe. Plans sufficient 

 to fill several volumes exist of the work he carried out, 

 and either he or his pupils were at some time or other engaged upon nearly 

 all the most important estates in France. His invention seems inexhaustible, 

 and his gardens display an astonishing variety, for to each one he was able 

 to give a different charm, as he always carefully studied the site and adapted 

 it to the taste and the purse of the owner. Le Notre was invited by Charles 

 II to come over in person to layout Hampton Court gardens, but although 

 he did not accept the invitation, he probably inspired the design, which was 

 put into the hands of French gardeners. It is said that he also made plans 

 for Greenwich and St. James' Parks. At any rate for the next half century 

 his style was paramount in England, and his influence spread over the whole 

 of Europe. His pupils became Court gardeners in Russia, Austria, and 

 Germany, whilst his methods were even adopted in the Sultan's gardens 

 at Constantinople. Amongst his pupils were his two nephews, Claude 

 Desgots and Michel Le Bouteux ; the former went to England as a young 

 man and worked in the royal gardens, and, returning to France, designed 

 the new gardens at Anet and the parks of Bagnolet and St. Maur. 



The great pleasure houses of Meudon, Clagny, Marly and Sceaux, 

 built as retreats from the etiquette of Versailles, have nearly all disappeared ; 



