European Gardens. An Historical Atlas. 1990. 192 plates (105 in colour). 207 p. 4to. Cloth.

The book is not a mere pictorial overview of the gardens, but a history of the concept and evolution of the European garden. Gardens in Europe began when man strove to replicate Eden, and the medieval gardens focused on spintual and medicinal needs. As the focus turned from God to man during the Renaissance, gardens took on a palatial, manicured quality and later mannerist gardens incorporated grottoes, topiaries and other purely decorative forms. The English predisposition for romanticism and the picturesque resulted in the creation of vast landscape gardens, and later, an untamed cottage garden look. WhenAmerican influences were felt, the idea of a suburban garden for everyone took hold and the Garden City Movement advocated parks and ornamental plantings.