Excerpt from The Gardens of Italy: With Historical and Descriptive Notes
Hen I set out before the Great War to prepare a new edition of the gardens OF italy it was with no calculated intention of doing more than a little revision and expansion. The interest of the subject has proved so great, however, that the present volume is, for all practical purposes, a new book. The magnificent series of photographs taken by the late Charles Latham has been retained, save for the elimination of a few subjects of minor interest, and about a hundred and fifty new photographs have been added to make the series of villas and gardens more comprehensive. Miss Evelyn March Phillipps' original text, with its valuable historical notes and the delightfully told stories of the people who lived in these old palaces and gardens, has been retained as far as possible. My work has been to add architectural notes throughout, to enlarge considerably the sections relating to the Roman and Florentine examples, to write entirely new chapters on the villas and gardens of Venetia, the lake district, and Genoa, to contribute a general introduction, and, not least important, to gather together a valuable series of plans. For these I have drawn freely on various sources, including Gauthier and Reinhardt for Genoa, and Percier et Fontaine for Rome. Although the garden plans by the latter, now reproduced, were made as long ago as 1809, they are in general so clear and correct that I thought it better to give them in their original state. Those which I checked on the spot did not show differences of such importance as to make it necessary to alter the originals. They contain in some instances restorations which Percier et Fontaine. Thought were justified to complete the original schemes. In some cases, e.g., the Palatine Hill, the drawings by these authors are all that now remain, and their labours in recording these old gardens deserve our warmest recognition.
Returning to Italy for the purposes of this work, after nearly a quarter of a century, I was greatly impressed with the improved condition of the country. This is reflected in the better cared-for condition of many of these gardens and villas. Though some losses have occurred, it does not seem fair to bring the customary charges against the Italians of indifference to their own past. I take this opportunity of thanking the owners who in many cases have very cordially helped me: the views of the interiors at Dei Collazzi and the account of the Villa font'-all-'erta in particular are owing to such kindness. Two illustrations of the Villa Madama are reproduced from the Royal Institute of British Architects' Journal, by kind permission of Mr. Halsey Ricardo.
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