About this item

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 butterflys 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 eventsfrom the Little Ice Age winter of 1683 to the drought summer of the volcanic 1783to probe the nature of gardening and husbandry, the role of amateurs in scientific disciplines, and the contribution of women as gardener-naturalists. Illustrated by a stunning wealth of visual and literary materialspaintings, engravings, poetry, essays, and letters, as well as prosaic household accounts and nursery billsLaird fundamentally transforms our understanding of the English landscape garden as a powerful cultural expression.