Before and After: Landscape Gardening and the Book History of Improvement

Abstract: This article reveals the interconnection of estate improvements with book history in the evolution of the key eighteenth-century concept of improvement. In the late eighteenth century, landscape gardener Humphry Repton invented the form of the before-and-after illustration, using hinged overlays to show proposed changes to the landscape. He presented his clients with what came to be known as his "Red Books," manuscript volumes not only outlining alterations but also theorizing how the correct kind of improvement should maintain a balance between the human and natural worlds. In his debate with proponents of the picturesque movement, such as Richard Payne Knight and Uvedale Price, Repton revealed how the improvement of estates could open onto larger questions about the intertwined nature of the British environment and society. In the surprisingly intertwined pamphlet wars of the 1790s, improvement was an organizing concept, and the semantic tussle over what constituted a true improvement transpired not only in words but also in innovative textual formats.