When someone asks what I'm studying and I tell them, the usual response is for them to repeat the subject in a tone of some surprise sprinkled with doubt. Sometimes they emphasize the word 'garden' as in "
Garden history?" indicating a grasp of the word 'history' and a decided uncertainty as to whether or not gardens have any. They do, indeed, I say, which is then followed by the inevitable question, "What does a garden historian do?"
Just one tiny part of what we do is study how and why a garden changed from this...
 |
| Her Majesty's Royal Palace at Kensington, from 'Survey of London' engraved by Johannes Kip (c.1652-1722), 1730 (watercolor tinting is modern) |
to this....
 |
| Charles Bridgeman's plan, circa 1733 |
to this....
 |
| Plan of Kensington Gardens and Kensington Town drawn by John Rocque, 1756 |
to this....
 |
| Current map of the gardens and park |
to this...
 |
| Design by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, 2011 |
At least it's one tiny piece of what I'll be doing next year as part of my coursework. Exciting, hey!? Right now I have to get back to writing that word and image study on the English Landscape Movement...after all, given that history begins with the last moment, a garden historian's work is never at an end*.
*I held John Evelyn's
Kalendarium Hortense, or
Gardiner's Almanack, printed in 1664 from which this quote is taken, in my own hands last week. My friend
Scott Daigre said it best: Kid. Candystore.
No comments:
Post a Comment