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This study explores the science and culture of nineteenth-century British arboretums, or tree collections. The development of arboretums was fostered by a variety of factors, each of which is explored in detail: global trade and exploration, the popularity of collecting, the significance to the British economy and society, developments in Enlightenment science, changes in landscape gardening aesthetics and agricultural and horticultural improvement. Arboretums were idealized as microcosms of nature, miniature encapsulations of the globe and as living museums. This book critically examines different kinds of arboretum in order to understand the changing practical, scientific, aesthetic and pedagogical principles that underpinned their design, display and the way in which they were viewed. It is the first study of its kind and fills a gap in the literature on Victorian science and culture.
Through close readings of individual serials and books and archival work on the publication history of the Gardener’s Magazine (1826-44) Sarah Dewis examines the significant contributions John and Jane Webb Loudon made to the gardening press and democratic discourse. Vilified during their lifetimes by some sections of the press, the Loudons were key players in the democratization of print media and the development of the printed image. Both offered women readers a cultural alternative to the predominantly literary and classical culture of the educated English elite. In addition, they were innovatory in emphasizing the value of scientific knowledge and the acquisition of taste as a means of eroding class difference. As well as the Gardener’s Magazine, Dewis focuses on the lavish eight-volume Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838), an encyclopaedia of trees and shrubs, and On the Laying Out, Planting, and Managing of Cemeteries (1843), arguing that John Loudon was a radical activist who reconfigured gardens in the public sphere as a landscape of enlightenment and as a means of social cohesion. Her book is important in placing the Loudons’ publications in the context of the history of the book, media history, garden history, urban social history, history of education, nineteenth-century radicalism and women’s journalism.
This book focuses upon the activities of a group of Midland intellectuals that included the evolutionist and physician Erasmus Darwin, Rev. Thomas Gisborne the evangelical philosopher and poet, Robert Bage the novelist, Charles Sylvester the chemist and engineer, William George and his son Herbert Spencer, the internationally renowned evolutionist philosopher who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest," and members of the Wedgwood and Strutt families. The book explores how, inspired by science and through educational activities, publications and institutions including the famous Derbyshire General Infirmary (1810) and Derby Arboretum (1840), the Derby philosophers strove to promote social, political and urban improvements with national and international consequences. Much more than a parochial history of one intellectual group or town, this book examines science, politics and culture during one of the most turbulent periods of British history, an age of political and industrial revolutions in which the Derby philosophers were closely involved.
This is the first book on the history of trees in Britain’s towns and cities and the people who have planted and cared for them. It is a highly readable and authoritative account of the trees in our urban landscapes from the Romans to the present day, including public parks, private gardens, streets, cemeteries and many other open spaces. It charts how our appreciation of urban trees and woodland has evolved into our modern understanding of the many environmental, economic and social benefits of our urban forests. A description is also given of the various threats to these trees over the centuries, such as pollution damage during the Industrial Revolution and the recent ravages of Dutch elm disease. Central and local government initiatives are examined together with the contribution of civic and amenity societies. However, this historical account is not just a catalogue of significant events but gives a deeper analysis by exploring fundamental issues such as who owned those treed landscapes, why they were created and who had access to them. The book concludes with the fascinating story of how trees have contributed to efforts to improve urban conditions through various ‘visions of urban green’ such as the model villages, garden cities, garden suburbs and the new towns. Studies in garden and landscape history have often been preoccupied with those belonging to the rich and powerful. This book focuses particularly on working people and the extent to which they have been able to enjoy urban trees and greenspace. It will appeal to a general readership, especially those with an interest in garden history, heritage landscapes and the natural and built environment. Its meticulous referencing will also ensure it is much appreciated by students and academics pursuing further reading and research. It is written by an internationally renowned arboriculturist who combines a passion for trees with a sound understanding of British social and cultural history.