xvi Introduction 



expressions of the period. It was due to the move- 

 ment called "romanticism," the renaissance of 

 wonder. In almost innumerable ways the world ac- 

 quired a new power of appeal and response to man. 

 The glory of lake and mountain and meadow, 

 the exquisite grace of childhood, the dignity and 

 worth of manhood, the intrinsic interest of the 

 commonplace, — to these and to other influences 

 of a similar character mankind became sensitive. 

 Romanticism was in truth an extraordinary devel- 

 opment of imaginative sensibility, and the centre 

 of the movement in England lay in its various, 

 intimate, and subtle interpretations of the world 

 of nature. Through it nature became to man an 

 inexhaustible resource. Therefore the conditions 

 were ready and the time was ripe for such ideals 

 of landscape gardening as those held and advo- 

 cated by Repton. 



The work of Repton as landscape gardener is 

 one of the most notable achievements in that pro- 

 fession. He has to his credit the creation, trans- 

 formation, or improvement of over two hundred 

 important places. His clients were in all parts of 

 England and included men of nearly every degree 

 and station. And to appreciate the scope of Rep- 

 ton's practice we must call to mind the extent 

 and character and marvellous beauty of the typical 

 English country-place of the eighteenth century. 

 It included not only all that is best in the private 

 places of our own time, but also the adequate setting 



