3 Free eBooks – July 2017

My picks for this month are about gardens…and all published between 1912 and 1914.

Rusinol, Santiago. Jardines de Espana. Madrid: Renacimiento. 1914. Available from Hathi Trust here. There is a timeless quality to gardens. Do we enjoy them in the same way today – when we aren’t distracted by the modern world? The depictions of Spanish gardens of 1914 would fit into modern notions of pleasant outdoor places as much as they did a century ago. I particularly liked the limited color illustrations.

Villiers-Stuart, C.M. Gardens of the Great Mughals. London: A. and C. Black, 1913. Available from Hathi Trust here. Lush and full of architectural elements like pools, fountains, and canals…I wished the scanning had been higher quality for the illustrations.

Thomas, H.H. The Garden at Home. London: Cassell and Company. 1912. Available from Hathi Trust here. Less formal gardens – with beds blooming profusely and roses on trellises. Is this the type garden we still strive for around our homes?