Alan Emmet has written widely landscapes and gardens. She is on the Garden Conservancy Advisory Committee and a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. She recently coauthored a historic landscape report for the National Trust for Historic Preservation on Chesterwood, Daniel Chester French s summer home and studio."
A lively illustrated social and horticultural book that adds a
significant new dimension to our understanding of American garden
history. "New York Times Book Review""
From these garden plots spring narrative plots: fully spun tales of
family fortunes made and lost, stately houses built and destroyed,
seduction, betrayal, grand passion, and unrequited love . . .
Emmet's gardens leave you with the sense that you've just enjoyed a
rich collection of horticultural morality tales. "Garden
Design""
This beautifully illustrated, oversized volume chronicles the story
of 16 gardens through New England in fantastic detail, providing
something for everyone interested in historic gardens, from grand
estates to smaller suburban plots. Meticulously researched, this
volume is filled with many period illustrations and, thankfully,
from a designer's and avid gardener's point of view, full of plans
so that one can actually see and understand the layout of the
landscapes in question . . . It's rare to find a book that makes as
good an addition to the coffee table as it does to the reference
shelf, but this is surely the case . . . A superlative volume.
"Traditional Gardening""
New York Times Book Review"
A lively illustrated social and horticultural book that adds a
significant new dimension to our understanding of American garden
history. "New York Times Book Review""
From these garden plots spring narrative plots: fully spun tales of
family fortunes made and lost, stately houses built and destroyed,
seduction, betrayal, grand passion, and unrequited love . . .
Emmet's gardens leave you with the sense that you've just enjoyed a
rich collection of horticultural morality tales. "Garden
Design""
This beautifully illustrated, oversized volume chronicles the story
of 16 gardens through New England in fantastic detail, providing
something for everyone interested in historic gardens, from grand
estates to smaller suburban plots. Meticulously researched, this
volume is filled with many period illustrations and, thankfully,
from a designer's and avid gardener's point of view, full of plans
so that one can actually see and understand the layout of the
landscapes in question . . . It's rare to find a book that makes as
good an addition to the coffee table as it does to the reference
shelf, but this is surely the case . . . A superlative volume.
"Traditional Gardening""
New York Times Book Review"
Emmet, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Garden Conservancy and a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, describes gardens from Colonial times into the 20th century, from small urban retreats to large estates. She concentrates on some two dozen gardens that survive or are well-documented in diaries, correspondence, historical records, plans, and paintings. It is instructive to compare her approach with May Brawley Hill's Grandmother's Garden (LJ 11/15/95), which covers a specific type of garden in a more limited time period but over a broader geographical range. Both authors describe Celia Thaxter's famous island garden off the coast of Maine. Hill features six full-page reproductions of paintings of the garden; Emmet gives more attention to Thaxter's life but does include a plan of the garden and information about its restoration. In general, Emmet spends more time on the biographies of the creators or owners of these gardens and less on the gardens themselves, but she still accomplishes her aim‘to examine the evolution of New England gardens from the utilitarian to the ornate‘and does so in a well-written and well-designed volume. Each chapter has extensive endnotes, but a bibliography would have been useful. Recommended for all gardening history collections.‘Daniel Starr, Museum of Modern Art, New York
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