Romantic Gardens: Nature Art and Landscape Design

Book reviews ordinarily focus upon recent publications. Looking a my bookshelf of works about Central Park, which date from my early days as an avidly adopted New Yorker, I see a rich trove of information and insight in books that were published more than half a century ago, beginning with Central Park: A History and A Guide by Henry Hope Reed and Sophia Duckworth, whose observations and information about the park remain as valid today as they were upon publication in 1967. Future journal entries will constitute reviews of other books that, together with this one, collectively constitute a beginner’s education in the history, natural history, and landscape design of Central Park.

Used as a noun, the word “place” carries certain diverse meanings, some of which have emotional significance for the speaker (or author) and listener (or reader), depending on the context, circumstances, and a mutually accepted concept of the intrinsic definition of the word. To describe this observation more fully, I am sharing here the text of a speech titled “Reflections on the Meaning of Place,” which I gave in Chicago twenty-two years ago.