Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, 1716-1783: The Omnipotent Magician - Hardcover

Brown, Jane

3.44

18 ratings by Goodreads

9780701182120: Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, 1716-1783: The Omnipotent Magician

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701182121 ISBN 13: 9780701182120

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2011

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Lancelot Brown changed the face of eighteenth-century England, designing country estates and mansions, moving hills and making flowing lakes and serpentine rivers, a magical world of green. This English landscape style spread across Europe and the world. At home, it proved so pleasing that Brown's influence spread into the lowland landscape at large, and into landscape painting. He stands behind our vision, and fantasy, of rural England.

In this vivid, lively biography, based on detailed research, Jane Brown paints an unforgettable picture of the man, his work, his happy domestic life, and his crowded world. She follows the life of the jovial yet elusive Mr Brown, from his childhood and apprenticeship in rural Northumberland, through his formative years at Stowe, the most famous garden of the day. His innovative ideas, and his affable and generous nature, led to a meteoric rise to a Royal Appointment in 1764 and his clients and friends ranged from statesmen like the elder Pitt to artists and actors like David Garrick. Riding constantly across England, Brown never ceased working until he collapsed and died in February 1783 after visiting one of his oldest clients. He was a practical man but also a visionary, always willing to try something new. As this delightful, and beautifully illustrated biography shows, Brown filled England with enchantment - follies, cascades, lakes, bridges, ornaments, monuments, meadows and woods - creating views that still delight us today.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

`The first major study of Brown for more than a decade' --Gardens Illustrated

`Jane Brown has visited innumerable houses, tramped through the parks and rounds the lakes, and pored over plans in estate offices and archives. The result is an extraordinarily rich account of many complex projects, written with historical sympathy and feet-on-the-ground knowledge' --The Daily Telegraph

`[Jane] Brown`s knowledge and the verve with which she has captured the spirit of his time have enlarged our understanding of one of England's greatest and most original geniuses' --Country Life

`His biographer has embarked on a mountain of impeccable research and her fondness for her subject is matched by her felicity as a writer' --Sunday Times

'a mine of information' --Daily Mail

`Brown's book is a good read' --Financial Times

`sympathetic, beautifully illustrated study' --Intelligent Life

`Jane Brown has dug deep into the archives and has written an exhaustive and beautifully illustrated biography that has been long overdue...Those who love his gardens...will be delighted with this book' --The Mail on Sunday

`this remarkably exhaustive survey is full of intricacies - physical and psychological, financial and geographical. For lovers of abundantly detailed biographies, this tome will not disappoint' --English Garden

'Her book should find a home in any garden-lover's glove compartment , offering a detailed map of Lancelot's England.'
--The Spectator

Book Description:

The first fully-rounded biography of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the genius who created the English landscape garden.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.