A natural history of English gardening, 1650-1800
(Book)

"Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Inspired by the pioneering naturalist Gilbert White, who viewed natural history as the common study of cultural and natural communities, Mark Laird unearths forgotten historical data to reveal the complex visual cultures of early modern gardening. Ranging from climate studies to the study of a butterfly's life cycle, this original and fascinating book examines the scientific quest for order in nature as an offshoot of ordering the garden and field. Laird follows a broad series of chronological events - from the LIttle Ice Age winter of 1683 to the drought summer of the volcanic 1783 - to probe the nature of gardening and husbandry, the role of amateurs in scientific disciplines, and the contribution of women as gardener-naturalists. Mary Delany's prolific and breathtaking botanical collages, when analysed alongside the duchess of Portland's shell studies, show female accomplishment elevated to the foundational work of the virtuosa. Illustrated by a stunning wealth of visual and literary materials - paintings, engravings, poetry, essays and letters, as well as prosaic household accounts and nursery bills - Laird fundamentally transforms our understanding of the English garden as a powerful cultural expression and as a vulnerable natural web of life. -- from dust jacket.