Brooke, Edward Adveno | The Gardens of England, 1857

Brooke, Edward Adveno

The Gardens of England. London: T. McLean, 1857  

Folio (533 x 425 mm). Chromolithographic title and frontispiece, lithographic dedication, 16 uncolored lithographic vignettes mounted on india paper, 24 chromolithographed plates mounted on guards with manuscript captions, leaves of text mounted on guards; some stray spots and toning to mounts. Straight-grained green morocco, gilt-decorated, spine with raised bands in seven compartments, second gilt-lettered, remaining with repeat gilt decoration, brown endpapers.

The uncommon deluxe edition with plates finished by hand and mounted in imitation of watercolors.

The Gardens of England "is a result of years of labour...completed at no small trouble and expense" to its author, of whom little is known and who has authored no other works. As noted within the publisher's preface, Edward Brooke's endeavor to capture 19 gardens of England's finest estates required the artist to root himself deeply within the space and remain relentless in his duty to truthfully capture the enthralling curated outdoor settings—for the "purpose of patient and careful labour." Brooke's work depicts the gardens of Bowood House, Alton Towers, and Woburn Abbey at their pinnacle. Taken from Brooke's original watercolors, the lithographs are presented in the same style: set within ink-rule and with manuscript titles.

Thanks to the ever-expanding British empire, what made these English gardens so grand was in part due to their non-English components. Bound by the standards of their class, the landed elite sought out skilled gardeners and architects like Trentham Gardens' Capability Brown to revitalize their spaces in the latest fashions. Trentham Gardens, belonging to the dedicatee of The Gardens of England, the Duchess of Sutherland, are featured in four color plates, one black and white lithograph, and nearly 6 pages of text. Dr. David Marsh of the UK Gardens Trust notes that "Brooke was recording trendsetting gardens that influenced fashion for the next 50 years. [The book's] pictures are clear, precise and very carefully delineated in a way which was to go out of fashion probably within 30 years." 

REFERENCES

Abbey, Scenery 392; Elliott, "The Cultural Heritage Collections from the RHS Lindley Library," in Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library, vol. 1 (Dec. 2009), 53