THE GARDES S OF ITALY. 
PRE F ACE. 
W HEN I set out before the Great War to prepare a new edition of The Gardens of 
Italy it was with no calculated intention of doing more than a little revision and 
expansion. The interest of the subject has proved so great, however, that 
the present volume is, for all practical purposes, a new book. The 
magnificent series of photographs taken bv the late Charles Latham has been retained, save 
for the elimination of a few subjects of minor interest, and about a hundred and fifty new 
photographs have been added to make the series of villas and gardens more comprehensive. 
Miss Evelyn March Phillipps’ original text, with its valuable historical notes and the 
delightfully told stories of the people who lived in these old palaces and gardens, has been 
retained as far as possible. My work has been to add architectural notes throughout, 
to enlarge considerably the sections relating to the Roman and Florentine examples, to write 
entirely new chapters on the villas and gardens of Venetia, the lake district, and Genoa, to 
contribute a general introduction, and, not least important, to gather together a valuable 
series of plans. For these I have drawn freely on various sources, including Gauthier and 
Reinhardt for Genoa, and Percier et Fontaine for Rome. Although the garden plans by the 
latter, now reproduced, were made as long ago as 1809, they are in general so clear and correct 
that I thought it better to give them in their original state. Those which I checked on the 
spot did not show' differences of such importance as to make it necessary to alter the originals. 
They contain in some instances restorations w’hich Percier et Fontaine thought were justified 
to complete the original schemes. In some cases, e.g., the Palatine Hill, the drawings by these 
authors are all that now remain, and their labours in recording these old gardens deserve our 
warmest recognition. 
Returning to Italy for the purposes of this work, after nearly a cpiarter of a century, I was 
greatly impressed with the improved condition of the country. This is reflected in the better- 
cared-for condition of many of these gardens and villas. Though some losses have occurred, it 
does not seem fair to bring the customary charges against the Italians of indifference to their 
own past. I take this opportunity of tlianking the owners who in many cases have very 
cordially helped me ; the view's of the interiors at Dei Collazzi and the account of the Villa 
Font’-All-’Erta in particular are owing to such kindness. Tw'O illustrations of the Villa Madama 
are reproduced from the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Journal, by kind permission of 
Mr. Halsey Ricardo, F.R.I.B.A. 
To my friend Mr. Law'rence Weaver, C.B.E., F.S.A., I make particular acknowledg- 
ment, for the work of revision has been the subject of many pleasant consultations, and 
to his help and counsel is due much that should serve the reader’s convenience and 
pleasure. Arthur T. Bolton, f.s.a., f.r.i.b.a. 
