Fans of Edith Wharton simply must read Italian Villas and Their Gardens, which is considered the novelist's first published work. Century Magazine commissioned Wharton to write a series of articles on Italian villas and gardens. She then went on a four-month tour of Italy, which is described in loving detail in Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Wharton's articles are accompanied by 26 illustrations by painter Maxfield Parrish, whose dreamlike scenes transport the reader to scenic Italy. The book gives a detailed history of Italian garden architecture and ornamentation by exploring over 75 villas. Wharton expertly describes the magic of these traditional gardens and explains the relationship between the local countryside, the villas and their formal gardens. Wharton was one of the first writers to take the study of formal gardens as seriously as other forms of art and architecture, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens influenced generations of landscape artists and writers. As... Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Italian Villas and Their Gardens (Classic Reprint) (Edith Wharton)