1908 English Houses and Gardens in the 17th and 18th Centuries - Illustrated Antique Book

In very good condition, here is a superb antique copy of English Houses and Gardens of the 17th and 18th Centuries. A Series of Birds-Eye Views. By Kip Badeslade Harris and Others. Being a first edition, published in 1908 by B.T. Batsford, London. More details below.

A highly regarded architectural reference book compiled by the architect Mervyn E. Macartney. Rather than featuring contemporary photographs, it is celebrated for reproducing rare, historic bird’s-eye views of grand English country estates.

The book is a retrospective visual record of England's most magnificent lost or altered landscapes. It features 61 high-quality plates reproduced from 17th- and 18th-century copperplate engravings. The vast majority of these aerial illustrations were originally executed by master engravers of the Baroque era. Macartney pairs these historical plates with 36 pages of detailed, "modern" (as of 1908) text and commentary, analysing how formal landscape design evolved in Britain.

By 1908, the Edwardian elite were deeply fascinated by the history of formal gardening. In the mid-to-late 18th century, famous landscape architects like "Capability" Brown had ruthlessly torn up England's old, highly structured geometric gardens (with their formal canals, avenues, and topiary) to replace them with naturalistic, sweeping lawns and lakes. Because so many original 17th-century formal gardens were physically destroyed by the landscape movement, Macartney’s 1908 book served as a vital rescue mission—bringing the old, forgotten formal layouts back into print so architects and landscape designers could study them.

Inside the pages are clean, bright and tightly bound. No inscriptions or markings of previous ownership. A little foxing and tanning to endpapers. All 61 plates are present as called for, and all in top order. The top closed edge is gilt.

Bound in grey-green papered boards with a vellum spine and gilt titles. Some rubbing to the surface of the papered sides (with some loss to just the very surface in places), and chipping around the outside edges. A couple of faint dark marks on the back - but minor. Tanning and spotting to the vellum spine. Clean, tight and square. Well bound for a large and heavy book, with no cracked hinges. A nice example.

Your antique copy of English Houses and Gardens of the 17th and 18th Centuries will be wrapped with great care* and sent well packaged. I am always happy to add a gift card with a message to the parcel.

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H 21 cm x W 28 cm, 1.3 kg. I dispatch worldwide daily from the UK. With the exception of a small number of countries.

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