[Sansevierias] Early American Gardens

<http://americangardenhistory.blogspot.com/>Early American Gardens


----------
Garden writer Batty Langley 1696-1751

Batty Langley

Written by Mike Rendell

I love this blog posting by Mike Rendell about 
Battly Langley who wrote of English gardens in 
the 1st half of the 
18C.  <http://blog.mikerendell.com/?p=4199>In 
fact, his entire blog, Georgian Gentleman, is 
fascinating!  Batty Langley's books often 
appeared in colonial British American libraries in the 18C.

<http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8FNpFNYDeQ/UvYut3X_F4I/AAAAAAABnNw/URpg1ogLLfI/s1600/Batty+Langley,+print+made+by+J.+Carwitham,+1741.jpg>
[]

Batty Langley, print made by J. Carwitham, 1741

"Many know of Capability Brown, some know of 
Humphry Repton, but one name largely overlooked 
is Batty Langley. Batty was baptised at 
Twickenham on 14th September 1696, the son of 
Daniel & Elizabeth Langley. His father was a 
jobbing gardener who seems to have been working 
for a David Batty, so the name may have been 
given to the baby in tribute to this patron. 
Batty Langley grew up in his father's footsteps, 
keen on gardening but determined to spread his 
wings rather than pottering around with a spade & pruning knife.

"At the age of 23 Batty married, but his wife 
Anne died after producing 4 children from 7 years 
of marriage. He remarried & went on to sire 
another 10 children, to whom he bequeathed such 
fanciful names as Euclid, Vitruvius & Archimedes…

<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--rDmIc7R61E/UvYzPPURIGI/AAAAAAABnN8/7mfC6oWjdy4/s1600/New+Principles+of+Gardening,+or,+the+laying+out+and+planting+parterres,+groves,+wildernesses,+labyrinths,+avenues,+parks,+c.+London+A.+Bettesworth+and+J.+Batley,+1728..jpg>
[]

New Principles of Gardening, or, the laying out 
and planting parterres, groves, wildernesses, 
labyrinths, avenues, parks, c. London A. Bettesworth and J. Batley, 1728.

"Batty Langley received a commission to do some 
design work for Thomas Vernon at Twickenham Park. 
There he encountered a large sandpit & managed to 
convert this perfect nuisance into a very 
agreeable beautiful spiral garden, using hornbeam 
hedges. It was the start of a fascination with 
shapes & serpentine mazes which led him in 1728 
to publish his oeuvre New Principles of 
Gardening; or The Laying out & Planting 
Parterres, Groves Wildernesses, Labyrinths, Avenues Parks etc

"The sub-title gave claim to the fact that the 
methods described in the book were more ‘Grand 
& Rural’ than anything before, listing 
Experimental Directions for raising the several 
kinds of fruit trees, Forest Trees, Ever Greens & 
Flowering shrubs with which gardens are adorn'd.

<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0HdoWDdUsZs/UvYzbhk-axI/AAAAAAABnOE/PIC-4olPhmY/s1600/.New+Principles+of+Gardening+is+profusely+illustrated+with+28+copperplate+engravings..jpg>
[]

New Principles of Gardening is profusely 
illustrated with 28 copperplate engravings.

"The book contained very little new, but the 
illustrations were influential in bringing to 
people’s attention the use of shapes & winding 
vistas – he wanted gardens to lead the visitor 
through the design, rather than have everything 
in full view. There should be surprises around 
each corner or, as he put in the introduction: 
Nor is there any Thing more shocking than a stiff 
regular Garden; where after we have seen one 
quarter thereof, the very same is repeated in all 
the remaining Parts, so that we are tired, 
instead of being further entertain'd with something new as expected.

"In other words it marked a move away from the 
rigidly, geometrical knot gardens favoured by the 
Elizabethan & Stuart gardeners, even if the world 
was not yet ready for the picturesque gardens of 
Capability Brown. Batty loved mazes, but often 
introduced swirls & patterns far removed from the 
traditional honeycomb designs.

<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8DU63_u6RtM/UvYzy5SnnaI/AAAAAAABnOM/3XTGoN59EMU/s1600/Inspired+by+the+gardens+at+Versailles+Langley+occasionally+suggested+improvements+to+their+design.jpg>
[]

Inspired by the gardens at Versailles Langley 
occasionally suggested improvements to their design

"In some ways his ideas were right at the start 
of the rococo movement; the problem was that this 
self-publicist thought that he was now the 
arbiter of taste in all areas of everyday life. 
He brought out books on carpentry & furniture 
design, prompting Horace Walpole to utter All 
that his books achieved, has been to teach 
carpenters to massacre that venerable species, & 
to give occasion to those who know nothing of the 
matter, & who mistake his clumsy efforts for real 
imitations, to censure the productions of our 
ancestors, whose bold & beautiful fabrics Sir 
Christopher Wren viewed & reviewed with 
astonishment, & never mentioned without esteem.

"He submitted a design for a new Mansion House in 
London in 1735, only to have it described in the 
St. James's Evening Post as a curious grotesque 
temple, in a taste entirely new… Undeterred, he 
pursued his ideas of arti-natural gardens, linked 
with what is now termed Batty Langley Gothic 
architecture. He felt that his writhing shapes & 
flowing designs were ˜exceeding beautiful in 
building, as in ceilings, parquetting, painting, paving,

"He published numerous tomes on building 
techniques, & on architecture under such 
inspiring titles as The Builders Compleat 
Assistant (1738); The City & Country Builder's & 
Workman's Treasury of Designs (1740); The 
Builder's Jewel, or the Youth's Instructor & 
Workman's Remembrancer (1741); Ancient 
Architecture, restored & improved, by a great 
variety of Grand & Useful Designs & in 1748 A 
Survey of Westminster Bridge, as tis now Sinking into Ruin.

"In general though, he was ridiculed for his 
designs for buildings. But for his gardening book 
he deserves to be remembered. Arti-natural may 
not have been revolutionary but at least Langley 
encouraged trees to have a natural form rather 
than being pollarded out of existence. Look at a 
serpentine shape or a paisley design, & remember Batty Langley with affection.

"He died at his Soho home in London in 1751."