A Prospect of Gardens. Visited, Discovered, and Presented by Their Owners, Creators & By Travellers Including Observations by Cyrus the Younger, Vitruvius, Columella, Goethe, Aurangzeb, Edward Lear & Others. With Painted Prints, Collages, Photographs, and Descriptions.
[London:]: 2015. One of seventeen numbered copies. Illustrated with prints and photographic reproductions; there is frequent use of lino cut with etching in the prints, and they painted with watercolor, gouache, acrylic or colored ink. The paper is mould-made Velin Arches. Other papers are colored Bugra Butten, blue and green rag paper, Karuki grass, Corn hair, and Khadi papers. Awagami Mingeishi with a printed image is used for some endpapers. The principal typefaces are Caslon, Roman Compressed, Verona, and Bembo, set by hand and printed letterpress in black colors. A fine copy. Green and yellow-gold morocco illustrated with a yellow-dotted vine pattern and an engraved copper leaf inlay that has been oxydised to give it a dark coloring. The artist notes that each binding in this edition is slightly different. However, two constant themes connect them all - a predominance of green, and leaves that have been cut out of copper, engraved, then oxydised to make them dark; pages are joined together and, for strength, the book is sewn on linen tapes laced into multi-layer boards; the endbands are of pierced leather in colors that reflect those used on the boards. The book comes in a green cloth box with a black-lettered paper label. Large, thick quarto. [144] pp. Item #16613
"This book is a book of garden moments. It is neither a history, nor a story of specific gardens; not a gardening manual, or account of plants, designers, gardeners...it contains elements of all these, laying out a perspective of shapes, influences and preferences occurring when nature is organised and the companionship of the earth is considered. Under six titles a collection of garden are presented: Gardens of Ancient Egypt; Early Persian Gardens; Illusion and Reality in Roman Gardens; Giardino Giusti; Mughal gardens, Lost and Found; Jardin Majorelle. Although divided by time and location, they are not so far apart that the influences of conquerors, trade and migration may be identified in their characters...As a garden, or a progression through the prospect of the garden, the book is planted with shapes, colours, walkways, light, and shade" (from the prospectus).
Price: $9,500.00