The English Great House and its Setting, C.1100-C.1800

Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2018. Book. Fine. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A fine new copy of this superbly illustrated volume. Andrew Boorde, writing in the 1540s, advised the builder of a new house to choose a site which was close to supplies of water and wood but also had a good view. He further recommended having a garden and orchard, while a park full of deer and rabbits was 'a necessary and a pleasant thing to be annexed to a mansion'. Boorde was emphasising the importance of both practical and aesthetic factors in the siting of a great house, and the interplay between these factors also influenced the evolution of houses, their gardens and parks over time. This journey, from medieval manor house in a village to Georgian country house in a landscaped park, forms the subject matter of this important book. Drawing on a wide range of materials, historian Jane Croom explains how new houses were built, existing houses remodelled and their immediate surroundings redesigned, between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. The book starts with a thematic overview of great houses and their settings and then examines their development chronology. Reference is made to over a hundred different case studies and the book is extensively illustrated with over 300 photographs, most in colour, also with reproductions of old paintings and engravings in a sumptuous production. Informative appendices, a glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography and index..