Clearings: Six Colonial Gardeners and Their Landscapes by Paul Fox

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Ex library copy with all external stickers removed. Partial date due slip on inside page now covered with a blank ex libris bookplate sticker. Stamp on imprint page. Minor wear to book corners and edges.

The stories of six colonial Australian gardeners and their transformation of the Australian landscape are told in this revealing look at 19th-century botany, horticulture, and plant collecting.

These are tales of strong determination. Sir William Macarthur, the colonial gentleman, took pride in besting a great London nursery. The passionate, energetic nurseryman Thomas Lang imported over a million plants into Australia. Daniel Bunce, a man of uncertain reputation, lived on the edge of society and came to understand how Aboriginal people saw their country. William Guilfoyle combined his pioneering experience with the aesthetics of gardening design and a grand vision to create the magic of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. Josiah Mitchell championed new farming practices through his journalism and lecturing. A gardener, William Ferguson, became a forester but could only conceive a forest in European terms.

Original writings, illustrations, and photographs from this time period help reveal the gardeners' progress as they made clearings on land that they did not understand people still inhabited.