Last issue of the Gardener's Magazine 

‘When reading to me the obituary she had written, she noticed the irony of his last book being about cemeteries, and I saw her smile for the first time since Papa’s death. She had a tendency to depression which made her smiles like sunshine after storms. Papa made few mistakes, but when he did she was amused.’ This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024). 

Jane Loudon's first draft of the Life of her husband in the last issue of the Gardeners’ Magazine

Here is the 1844 text of what grew into Jane Loudon’s Life of her husband - and, 180 years later, grew into Tom Turner’s fictionalised biography and travelogue of Loudon and Buchanan:-

THE GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, JANUARY, 1844. Death of Mr. Loudon.

THIS will be the last Number of the Gardener's Magazine, as its Founder and Conductor is no more. On the 14th of Dec. 1843, died, at his house at Bayswater, JOHN CLAUDIUS LOUDON, ESQ., who, for nearly half a century, has been before the public as a writer of numerous useful and popular works on gardening, agriculture, and architecture. 

Mr. Loudon's father was a farmer, residing in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where he was very highly respected; but Mr. Loudon was born on April 8th, 1783, at Cambuslang, in Lanarkshire, where his mother's only sister resided, herself the mother of the Rev. Dr. Claudius Buchanan, afterwards celebrated for his philanthropic labours in India. Dr. Buchanan was several years older than Mr. Loudon, but there was a singular coincidence in many points of their history. The two sisters were, in both cases, left widows at an early age, with large families, which were brought up by the exertions of the eldest sons; and both mothers had the happiness of seeing their eldest sons become celebrated. Mr. Loudon was brought up as a landscape-gardener, and began to practise in 1803, when he came to England with numerous letters of introduction to some of the first landed proprietors in the kingdom. He afterwards took a large farm in Oxfordshire, where he resided in 1809. In the years 1813-14-15, he made the tour of Northern Europe, traversing Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Austria; in 1819 he travelled through Italy; and in 1828 through France and Germany.

Mr. Loudon's career as an author began in 1803, when he was only twenty years old, and it continued with very little interruption during the space of forty years, being only concluded by his death. The first works he published were the following:- Observations on laying out Public Squares, in 1803, and on Plantations, in 1804; a Treatise on Hothouses, in 1805, and on Country Residences, in 1806, both 4to; Hints on the Formation of Gardens, in 1812; and three works on Hothouses, in 1817 and 1818. In 1822 appeared the first edition of the Encyclopædia of Gardening; a work remarkable for the immense mass of useful matter which it contained, and for the then unusual circumstance of a great quantity of woodcuts being mingled with the text: this book obtained an extraordinary sale, and fully established his fame as an author. Soon after was published an anonymous work, written either partly or entirely by Mr. Loudon, called the Greenhouse Companion; and shortly afterwards Observations on laying out Farms, in folio, with his name. In 1824, a second edition of the Encyclopædia of Gardening was published, with very great alterations and improvements; and the following year appeared the first edition of the Encyclopædia of Agriculture. In 1826, the Gardener's Magazine was commenced, being the first periodical ever devoted exclusively to horticultural subjects. The Magazine of Natural History, also the first of its kind, was begun in 1828. Mr. Loudon was now occupied in the preparation of the Encyclopædia of Plants, which was published early in 1829, and was speedily followed by the Hortus Britannicus. In 1830, a second and nearly re-written edition of the Encyclopædia of Agriculture was published, and this was followed by an entirely re-written edition of the Encyclopædia of Gardening, in 1831; and the Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, the first he published on his own account, in 1832. This last work was one of the most successful, because it was one of the most useful, he ever wrote, and it is likely long to continue a standard book on the subjects of which it treats. Mr. Loudon now began to prepare his great and ruinous work, the Arboretum Britannicum, the anxieties attendant on which were, undoubtedly, the primary cause of that decay of constitution which terminated in his death. This work was not, however, completed till 1838, and in the mean time he began the Architectural Magazine, the first periodical devoted exclusively to architecture. The labour he underwent at this time was almost incredible. He had four periodicals, viz. the Gardener's, Natural History, and Architectural Magazines, and the Arboretum Britannicum, which was published in monthly numbers, going on at the same time; and, to produce these at the proper times, he literally worked night and day. Immediately on the conclusion of the Arboretum Britannicum, he began the Suburban Gardener, which was also published in 1838, as was the Hortus Lignosus Londinensis; and in 1839 appeared his edition of Repton's Landscape-Gardening. In 1840, he accepted the editorship of the Gardener's Gazette, which he retained till November, 1841; and in 1842 he published his Encyclopædia of Trees and Shrubs. In the same year he completed his Suburban Horticulturist; and finally, in 1843, he published his work on Cemeteries, the last separate work he ever wrote. In this list, many minor productions of Mr. Loudon's pen have necessarily been omitted; but it may be mentioned, that he contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica and Brande's Dictionary of Science; and that he published numerous supplements, from time to time, to his various works. 

No man, perhaps, has ever written so much, under such adverse circumstances, as Mr. Loudon. Many years ago, when he came first to England (in 1803), he had a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which disabled him for two years, and ended in an anchylosed knee and a contracted left arm. In the year 1820, whilst compiling the Encyclopædia of Gardening, he had another severe attack of rheumatism; and the following year, being recommended to go to Brighton to get shampooed in Mahommed's Baths, his right arm was there broken near the shoulder, and it never properly united. Notwithstanding this, he continued to write with his right hand till 1825, when the arm was broken a second time, and he was then obliged to have it amputated; but not before a general breaking up of the frame had commenced, and the thumb and two fingers of the left hand had been rendered useless. He afterwards suffered frequently from ill health, till his constitution was finally undermined by the anxiety attending on that most costly and laborious of all his works, the Arboretum Britannicum, which has unfortunately not yet paid itself. He died at last of disease of the lungs, after suffering severely about three months; and he retained all the clearness and energy of his mind to the last. 

His labours as a landscape-gardener are too numerous to be detailed here, but that which he always considered as the most important, was the laying out of the Arboretum so nobly presented by Joseph Strutt, Esq., to the town of Derby.

Never, perhaps, did any man possess more energy and determination than Mr. Loudon; whatever he began he pursued with enthusiasm, and carried out, notwithstanding obstacles that would have discouraged any ordinary person. He was a warm friend, and most kind and affectionate in all his relations of son, husband, father, and brother; and he never hesitated to sacrifice pecuniary considerations to what he considered his duty. That he was always most anxious to promote the welfare of gardeners, the volumes of this Magazine bear ample witness; and he laboured not only to improve their professional knowledge, and to increase their temporal comforts, but to raise their moral and intellectual character.’

John Claudius Loudon's Impact on Gardening Literature

John Claudius Loudon’s work transcended mere gardening; he was a visionary who sought to educate and uplift the profession. His comprehensive approach to horticulture is evident in his numerous publications, which remain influential even today. Despite physical challenges, Loudon’s dedication to his work never wavered, culminating in an extraordinary career that laid the groundwork for modern garden design and education. The final issue of The Gardener’s Magazine not only marks the end of an era but also serves as a reminder of his relentless pursuit of knowledge and improvement in the horticultural world.