Gardens for a Beautiful America, 1895-1935. Photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston
Skillfully narrated... The research and identification of these slides by Watters, uncataloged when he first saw them five years ago, are exhaustively presented and annotated and will be a rich fund for later historians. --John Dixon Hunt, Landscape Architecture Magazine, April 2012Pioneering American photojournalist Frances Benjamin Johnston never planted a garden of her own until she was in her 80s, but she masterfully recorded hundreds of others on hand-painted glass lantern slides used for her horticultural lectures... Author Sam Watters has meticulously identified the landscapes, which range from humble backyards to noble estates. --Architectural Digest, May 2012Far more than pretty pictures (Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. deemed Ms. Johnston s photographs the finest existing on the subject of American gardens ), the carefully composed painterly images of these elegant, often opulent gardens were meant to educate the masses. --Anne Raver, the New York Times<br Rarely does a book appear that feels like a revelation. The Acanthus Press' recent Gardens for a Beautiful America, by Sam Watters, is just such book, however... Today, anyone interested in the history of gardens owes Mr. Watters a huge debt of gratitude as he painstakingly identified the slides and presents 250 of them in this ravishing book, giving us miniature portraits of gardens in both America and Europe. ----Jane Garmey, 1st Dibs, June 2012<br /From the very first glimpse, the pictures are spellbinding. The subjects are stunning: Handsome buildings flanked by gorgeous flowers and trees. The composition of each view is balanced. The colors are ethereal., with a palette mirroring that of the dreamiest Impressionist artist, inviting the observer to enter a fairytale world of wealth and beauty. The overall artistic quality of the pictures blurs the line between photography and art, and there is timelessness that cannot be denied. This is the world of beautiful America, a place captured by Frances Benjamin Johnston and frozen in time. --New England Antiques Journal, July 2012For Johnston s admirers, the images represent a true artist at work, one who would manipulate her pictures at every stage in pursuit of the perfect evocation of a given garden. --Adrian Higgins, the Washington Post--Adrian Higgins, the Washington PostThis is an unusually sumptuous book that is a welcome addition to a small shelf devoted to serious, well-illustrated books about garden history.It's basically a scholarly study, but in the guise of a luscious coffee-table book; aficionados of early twentieth-century American gardens couldn't do better...Sam Watters...has done a superb job of sifting through the collection of eleven hundred hand-coloured slides housed in the Library of Congress...His resulting research is tucked away in copious notes that are packed with information. But scholarship aside, this is a book to enjoy for its sheer visual appeal... --Judith Tankard, Hortus, Number 104, Winter 2012Some design books are interesting and stimulating, or even downright titillating. And some are beautiful, with luscious photography, luxe paper, and typography. Bu here we have somethingrare: a book with the power to bring you into another world. [...] Many books of breathtaking garden images leave out information on the particulars and circumstances of the gardens depicted. Mr. Watters' book is instead a welcome exception to this failing, and in a later chapter he gives us the details on the location, features, client, architect/landscape architect, and even - when known - a name of the key player for turning a concept into beauty: the gardener. --The Forum, Fall 2012Winner of the 2012 Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Annual Literature Award in the general book category."The council was impressed by this gorgeous and informative book." --Gretchen Wade, Harvard Botany Libraries --CBHL Annual MeetingSome design books are interesting and stimulating, or even downright titillating. And some are beautiful, with luscious photography, luxe paper, and typography. Bu here we have somethingrare: a book with the power to bring you into another world. [...] Many books of breathtaking garden images leave out information on the particulars and circumstances of the gardens depicted. Mr. Watters' book is instead a welcome exception to this failing, and in a later chapter he gives us the details on the location, features, client, architect/landscape architect, and even - when known - a name of the key player for turning a concept into beauty: the gardener. --The Forum, Fall 2012