ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS

[Gardens; Italian Gardens; Parrish, Maxfield]; Wharton Edith

Published by London John Lane: The Bodley Head 1904

First Edition, first issue. Profusely illustrated with 52 illustrations, 27 of which are either colourplates or half-tones by Maxfield Parrish, the rest being photographs and drawings by E. Denison, Malcolm Fraser and C. A. Vanderhof. Tall 8vo, publisher s original dark forest green cloth decorated and lettered in gilt on the spine, cover design by Decorative Designers with elaborate pictorial decorations after Maxfield Parrish in an all over design, upper cover stamped in gilt and blocked in light green, blue, purple, gilt and rust, showing a villa garden. 270 pp. A very handsome copy, well preserved, the corners and tips in pleasing condition, some typical foxing to the initial prelim and tissue guard, the binding clean and with very little wear, very light evidence of age. A pleasing example of this very important, beautifully illustrated book. SCARCE FIRST EDITION, AND A HANDSOME COPY OF THE 1907 ISSUE OF THIS HIGHLY REGARDED AND SOUGHT AFTER WORK. One of the most well-written books on Italian garden design. The combination of Wharton s liquid descriptions and Parrish s romantic paintings, makes for an extremely delightful book. Special attention is given to the gardens found at Florentine, Sienese and Roman villas. The relationship of the buildings to the natural surroundings is explored in detail. "The Italian garden does not exist for its flowers; its flowers exist for it: they are a late and infrequent adjunct to its beauties, a parenthetical grace counting only as one more touch in the general effect of enchantment. This is no doubt partly explained by the difficulty of cultivating any but spring flowers in so hot and dry a climate, and the result has been a wonderful development of the more permanent effects to be obtained from the three other factors in garden-composition - marble, water and perennial verdure - and the achievement, by their skillful blending, of a charm independent of the seasons." The format and decorative binding and illustration are the same as in the first issue. Seller Inventory # 33641

Bibliographic Details

Title: ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
Publisher: London John Lane: The Bodley Head 1904
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Edition