Andrew Jackson Downing: Essential Texts

by Andrew Jackson Downing, Robert Twombly (Editor)

Overview

A collection of essential writings by the father of landscape architecture and the urban park movement in the United States.

Andrew Jackson Downing (1815–1852), a much-sought-after designer, influential writer, and editor of The Horticulturist, was an internationally known shaper of opinion. Robert Twombly has selected thirty-three essays on Architecture and Building, Landscape Gardening, Parks and Other Public Places, Village Beautification, Horticulture, and Agricultural Education, and provides an introduction to Downing’s life and work and suggestions for further reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393733594
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/18/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert Twombly teaches at the Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College, New York City. He lives in West Nyack, New York.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments 9

Introduction: Architect and Gardener to the Republic 15

I Architecture and Building

1 Remarks on the Fitness of the Different Styles of Architecture for the Construction of Country Residences, and on the Employment of Vases in Garden Scenery (1836) 45

2 Hints on the Construction of Farm-Houses (1846) 54

3 The Workingman's Cottage (1846) 59

4 On Country Houses (1846) 71

5 Hints to Persons about Building in the Country (1847) 77

6 On the Color of Country Houses (1847) 104

7 On the Moral Influence of Good Houses (1848) 115

8 A Few Words on Our Progress in Building (1851) 121

9 A Short Chapter on Country Churches (1851) 133

II Landscape Gardening

10 Rural Embellishments (1832) 143

11 Notes on Belts of Trees in Ornamental Plantations (1842) 149

12 A Chapter on Lawns (1846) 154

13 Hints on Flower-Gardens (1847) 163

14 How to Choose a Site for a Country Seat (1847) 173

15 How to Arrange Country Places (1850) 181

16 The Management of Large Country Places (1851) 189

17 A Chapter on School Houses (1848) 196

Illustrations 203

III Parks and Other Public Places

18 A Talk about Public Parks and Gardens (1848) 213

19 Public Cemeteries and Public Gardens (1849) 227

20 The New York Park (1851) 235

IV Village Beautification

21 Trees in Towns and Villages (1847) 249

22 On Planting Shade Trees (1847) 259

23 On the Improvement of Country Villages (1849) 265

24 Our Country Villages (1850) 273

V Horticulture

25 Some Remarks on Temperature Considered in Relation to Vegetation and the Naturalization of Plants (1836) 287

26 Notices on the State and Progress of Horticulture in the United States (1837) 303

27 Great Horticultural Society of the Valley of the Hudson (1838) 323

28 Some Remarks on the Superiority of Native Varieties of Fruit (1847) 327

29 The Influence of Horticulture (1847) 335

30 American versus British Horticulture (1852) 342

VI Agricultural Education

31 The National Ignorance of the Agricultural Interest (1851) 351

32 A Chapter on Agricultural Schools (1849) 359

33 Address on Agricultural Education (1851) 368

For Further Reading 383

Index 387

Editorial Reviews

"Twombly has brought to light Andrew Jackson Downing’s remarkable contributions to the American landscape. As one who greatly appreciates our public parks, and who was, I will admit, often taken them for granted, I will never stroll through one again without thinking of Downing. . . . [A] book that could be read straight through, and revisited often by anyone with even a passing interest in landscapes and the public environment."

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