Henry Shaws Victorian Landscape

by Carol Grove

Overview

Grove (landscape studies, U. of Missouri-Columbia) recounts the transformation of Henry Shaw's (1800-1889) estate, Tower Grove, in St. Louis into what is now the Missouri Botanical Garden. He opened the garden in 1859, then added 276 acres for the Tower Grove Park, which were designed using the gardenesque approach that allows room for viewing and emphasizes the characteristics of individual species. Grove describes Shaw's life from his birth in England to his immigration to America and ensuing business and financial accomplishments, and explains how he developed the garden and park, influences on him, experts who consulted with him, and how it reflected American society at the time. Interspersed throughout the text are b&w photos of the grounds, plans, and visitors at the garden. Annotation © 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558495081
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	10/25/2005
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 10.30(h) x 1.00(d)

Editorial Reviews

"This volume offers an insighful cultural history of Shaw's landscapes, among the most important examples of the gardenesque in America."

Forbes.com

"Well presented, pleasantly written and superbly edited volume."
—Antiques Magazine, March 2006

Erik Empson

(T)he book takes a fascinating historical look at the establishment of these two landscapes and their development over the ensuing years.

The American Gardener

After ten years of travel across Europe, Asia Minor, and Russia, retired importer Henry Shaw (1800-89) returned to his St. Louis estate, Tower Grove, with visions of cultivating a botanical garden on par with what he saw overseas. In 1859, Shaw's Garden-today the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG)-opened its doors. Grove (art history, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia) traces the beginnings of Shaw's interest in botany and gardens to the development of the MBG and Tower Grove Park in this history of the first major botanical garden west of the Mississippi. Shaw's motivation for the project is connected to his belief that landscaping would educate and elevate public taste. His aesthetic interest, coupled with his European travels, resulted in plantings more associated with the gardenesque style, which favored deliberate construction, than the prevailing pastoral, or naturalistic, style. Part of the book's significance lies in its exploration of these contrasting schools of garden design. Plentiful black-and-white photographs and reproductions of period illustrations convey the effects of Shaw's garden planning and plantings. While of obvious interest to regional libraries, this book would also be suited to collections supporting research in cultural studies, philanthropy, and aesthetic movements as well as horticulture and landscape design.-Jennifer Burek Pierce, Indiana Univ. SLIS, Indianapolis Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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