The life and times of Henrietta Luxborough, 18th-century aristocrat, gardener and society exile.
Henrietta St John was born on St Swithun’s Day in 1699 into a world of wealth, privilege and seeming security. Beloved sister of rake and statesman. Viscount Bolingbroke, she grew up in Hogarthian London and Wiltshire, her ancestral home, into a headstrong woman of poetry and letters – Pope, Swift and Gay were amongst her acquaintance. Yet with more wit and intelligence than was good for a high-ranking woman of her time and a wild mane of dark curly hair, Henrietta was not the easiest of marriage propositions. She succumbed at twenty-seven, with her infatuation for the son of the infamous and exiled South Sea Company chief cashier. Soon afterwards, she was accused by her pompous husband of infidelity with a young poet, and sent into the country to moulder and die.
In refusing to fulfil these cruel expectations Henrietta created for herself, and for us, an eccentric and enchanting company of friends from the understorey of mid-18th-century society. Her circle – they liked to set their wooden chairs in a circle in the garden, sip port and gossip on warm, moonlit nights – was a lively collage of characters far removed from the Court and the City, and yet occasionally touched by great events. It was Henrietta’s gardens, however, that most sustained her sanity and that now shape Jane Brown's lively biography. Through evocative descriptions of the gardens and houses her heroine inhabited, Jane Brown reconstructs Henrietta’s remarkable and tumultuous life, and reveals an intricate portrait of early 18th-century English culture and society.
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‘Henrietta is brought alive with enlightening understanding and narrative pace...Brown has unearthed a wonderful character who has until now only existed in the margins of garden history. With great verve she places Henrietta at the centre of the genesis of the picturesque garden movement.’ Guardian
‘The garden itself has long vanished, but Brown, with her rare gift for horticultural and personal passions, brings it to vivid, tender life, as she does the irrepressible Henrietta and all her turbulent times.’ Sunday Times
Praise for ‘The Pursuit of Paradise’:
‘A genuinely important contribution, not just to understanding gardens of the past, but to how we might get the most pleasure from the gardens of the future.’ Monty Don, Observer
‘If you want to be impressively well informed about why every self-respecting home must have a patio, or why delphiniums, gladioli and larkspur are distinctly passé, then latch on to this illuminating book.’ Penelope Lively, Mail on Sunday
Praise for ‘Tales of the Rose Tree’:
‘A superbly researched and narrated celebration ... Jane Brown has done the species and her readers a service in reminding us of its fabulous history.’ Literary Review
Praise for ‘The Pursuit of Paradise’:
‘Be warned. This is a rich brew, not to be taken in one gulp. Gardening in this book encompasses science and history, philosophy and art, literature and the military, politics and sex! It is all tremendous fun.’ Ruth Gorb, Guardian
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1. Seller Inventory # G0007235704I4N00
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This work talks about the the life and times of Henrietta Luxborough, eighteenth-century aristocrat, gardener and society exile. Henrietta St John was born on St Swithun's Day in 1699 into a world of wealth, privilege and seeming security. Beloved sister of rake and statesman, Viscount Bolingbroke, she grew up in Hogarthian London and Wiltshire, her ancestral home, into a headstrong woman of poetry and letters- Pope, Swift and Gay were amongst her acquaintance. Yet with more wit and intelligence than was good for a high-ranking woman of her time and a wild mane of dark curly hair, Henrietta was not the easiest of marriage propositions. She succumbed at twenty-seven, with her infatuation for the son of the infamous and exiled South Sea Company chief cashier. Soon afterwards, she was accused by her pompous husband of infidelity with a young poet, and sent into the country to moulder and die. In refusing to fulfill these cruel expectations Henrietta created for herself, and for us, an eccentric and enchanting company of friends from the understorey of mid-eighteenth century society. Her circle - they liked to set their wooden chairs in a circle in the garden, sip port and gossip on warm, moonlit nights - was a lively collage of characters far removed from the Court and the City, and yet occasionally touched by great events. It was Henrietta's gardens, however, that most sustained her sanity and that now shape Jane Brown's lively biography. Through evocative descriptions of the gardens and houses her heroine inhabited, Jane Brown reconstructs Henrietta's remarkable and tumultuous life, and reveals an intricate portrait of early eighteenth-century English culture and society. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR004103266
Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A few small marks or stains to the page edges/pages . A tan to the page edges/pages . Minor shelf wear. Previous owners name inside the front page/cover. Seller Inventory # wbb0019482799
Book Description paperback. Condition: Very Good. Very Good paperback with light shelfwear - NICE! Standard-sized. Seller Inventory # mon0000209522
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. First Edition. 264 pages. Book is in general good condition. There is some reading wear and age marks on the inside pages present, but still a presentable copy. Seller Inventory # 209971
Book Description Hardback. 2006. Henrietta Luxborough, Poetic Gardener and Irrepressible Exile This work talks about the the life and times of Henrietta Luxborough, eighteenth-century aristocrat, gardener and society exile. Henrietta St John was born on St Swithun's Day in 1699 into a world of wealth, privilege and seeming security. Beloved sister of rake and statesman, Viscount Bolingbroke, she grew up in Hogarthian London and Wiltshire, her ancestral home, into a headstrong woman of poetry and letters - Pope, Swift and Gay were amongst her acquaintance. Yet with more wit and intelligence than was good for a high-ranking woman of her time and a wild mane of dark curly hair, Henrietta was not the easiest of marriage propositions. She succumbed at twenty-seven, with her infatuation for the son of the infamous and exiled South Sea Company chief cashier. Soon afterwards, she was accused by her pompous husband of infidelity with a young poet, and sent into the country to moulder and die. In refusing to fulfill these cruel expectations Henrietta created for herself, and for us, an eccentric and enchanting company of friends from the understorey of mid-eighteenth century society.Her circle - they liked to set their wooden chairs in a circle in the garden, sip port and gossip on warm, moonlit nights - was a lively collage of characters far removed from the Court and the City, and yet occasionally touched by great events. It was Henrietta's gardens, however, that most sustained her sanity and that now shape Jane Brown's lively biography. Through evocative descriptions of the gardens and houses her heroine inhabited, Jane Brown reconstructs Henrietta's remarkable and tumultuous life, and reveals an intricate portrait of early eighteenth-century English culture and society. First published 2006. Seller Inventory # 7937065
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fine. Black ink stripe on bottom edge ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 320 pages. Seller Inventory # B3773