Comments on: Helena Atlee Italian Gardens – book review

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:52:25 +0000

Oh yes: keep hold of your trams. I framed an Edinburgh ‘Last Tram Week’ ticket at the age of ten – and now they are ripping up parts of the town to bring back the tram.

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:33:58 +0000

Thanks! I would love to see our electrical wires go underground, but most Melburnians have a bit of a soft spot for our trams and the trams cables. We even have some that are heritage protected. But it can sometimes be very annoying when trying to take a good photo of a building.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:52:29 +0000

I think art history and architectural history are good backgrounds from which to approach garden history, because they both maintain a balance between the 'word' and 'image' aspects of the subject. It would be interesting to have an explanation of what is meant by a 'cultural history of gardens' and to make a comparison with the 'general history of gardens' or with other specialist approaches to garden history. I am not in favour of dealing with garden history primarily through words, as Katherine T. von Stackelberg mostly does in The Roman Garden (Routledge 2009). PS Kat: I like your Bosco Parrasio Blog - and I think Melbourne needs some regulations for the control of overhead cabling!

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:39:31 +0000

I’m not sure that Helena Attlee’s work should be taken as a good example of the ‘cultural history’ of gardens. I agree the photos are gorgeous but that it seems a bit like her travel accounts. As someone who knows the topic very well I immediately noticed that all her text is essentially taken from a selection of well known secondary sources. There were paragraphs where I knew the exact book she had used to write it! I think it provides a really good overview informed by most of the key literature, but it is just an overview, no really new insights.

At the same time I don’t really believe you can say that design historians necessarily have a better grasp of cultural history. I have read several accounts of the design of gardens that manage to completely ignore the cultural and social currents that informed the design. It is an interesting problem though that I do agree with to a certain extent, I came to garden history via art history so always have a strong inclination to begin with the work itself, be it the garden design or painting.