The Loudons and the Gardening Press: A Victorian Cultural Industry (Nineteenth Century Series

295 Pages·2014·5.645 MB·English

by  Sarah Dewis

The Loudons and The
GardeninG Press
Through close readings of individual serials and books and archival work on the
publication history of the Gardener’s Magazine (1826-44) sarah dewis examines
the significant contributions John and Jane Webb Loudon made to the gardening
press and democratic discourse. Vilified during their lifetimes by some sections
of the press, the Loudons were key players in the democratization of print
media and the development of the printed image. Both offered women readers
a cultural alternative to the predominantly literary and classical culture of the
educated english elite. in addition, they were innovatory in emphasizing the value
of scientific knowledge and the acquisition of taste as a means of eroding class
difference. as well as the Gardener’s Magazine, dewis focuses on the lavish
eight-volume arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838), an encyclopaedia of
trees and shrubs, and On the Laying Out, Planting, and Managing of Cemeteries
(1843), arguing that John Loudon was a radical activist who reconfigured gardens
in the public sphere as a landscape of enlightenment and as a means of social
cohesion. her book is important in placing the Loudons’ publications in the context
of the history of the book, media history, garden history, urban social history,
history of education, nineteenth-century radicalism and women’s journalism.
The nineteenth Century series
General editors’ Preface
The aim of the series is to reflect, develop and extend the great burgeoning of interest
in the nineteenth century that has been an inevitable feature of recent years, as that
former epoch has come more sharply into focus as a locus for our understanding
not only of the past but of the contours of our modernity. it centres primarily
upon major authors and subjects within romantic and Victorian literature. it also
includes studies of other British writers and issues, where these are matters of
current debate: for example, biography and autobiography, journalism, periodical
literature, travel writing, book production, gender, non-canonical writing. We are
dedicated principally to publishing original monographs and symposia; our policy
is to embrace a broad scope in chronology, approach and range of concern, and
both to recognize and cut innovatively across such parameters as those suggested
by the designations ‘Romantic’ and ‘Victorian’. We welcome new ideas and
theories, while valuing traditional scholarship. it is hoped that the world which
predates yet so forcibly predicts and engages our own will emerge in parts, in
the wider sweep, and in the lively streams of disputation and change that are so
manifest an aspect of its intellectual, artistic and social landscape.
Vincent newey
Joanne Shattock
University of Leicester
The Loudons and the
Gardening Press
a Victorian Cultural industry
SaRah DeWiS
British Library, UK
© sarah dewis 2014
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
sarah dewis has asserted her right under the Copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988, to
be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing Limited ashgate Publishing Company
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union road suite 3-1
Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
dewis, sarah.
The Loudons and the gardening press: a Victorian cultural industry / by sarah dewis.
pages cm. — (The nineteenth century series)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4094-6922-3 (hardcover: alk. paper)—isBn 978-1-4094-6923-0 (ebook) —
isBn 978-1-4094-6924-7 (epub)
1. Loudon, Mrs. (Jane), 1807–1858—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Loudon, J. C. (John
Claudius), 1783–1843—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Literature and society—Great
Britain—history—19th century. 4. Gardens—Great Britain—history—19th century.
5. horticulture—Great Britain—history—19th century. 6. Publishers and publishing—
Great Britain—history—19th century. i. Title.
Pr4891.L65Z62 2014
823’.7—dc23
2013034273
isBn: 9781409469223 (hbk)
iSBN: 9781409469230 (ebk – PDF)
iSBN: 9781409469247 (ebk – ePUB)
V
To David for his constant support
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Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
introduction 1
1 Who are the Gardeners? The radical origins of the Gardener’s
Magazine 7
2 John Loudon as editor 33
3 image and Text in the Gardener’s Magazine 81
4 national discourse: John Loudon, activism and Landscape 117
5 domestic discourse: John Loudon, Periodicals for Women and the
Book Manufactory 167
6 Jane Webb Loudon, editor and author of Garden Publications 195
Conclusion 237
Bibliography of Works Cited 239
Index 263
This page has been left blank intentionally
List of Figures
2.1 amaryliss (original in colour), Botanical Magazine, 4, pl. 129
(1790) © The British Library Board. shelfmark 678. c. 1–7 39
2.2 Frontispiece, Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London
(1812) © The British Library Board. shelfmark ac. 3371/2 44
2.3 The design is stark in comparison with the frontispiece of the
Transactions, frontispiece, Gardener’s Magazine (1826) © The
British Library Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 46
2.4 one of a number of obituaries for david douglas featured in the
Magazine and part of a campaign to enlist support for a monument
in his memory, Gardener’s Magazine, 12 (nov 1836), 602 © The
British Library Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 57
3.1 The uniformity of pages of text is broken up by illustrations,
Gardener’s Magazine, 5 (Feb 1829), 74–5 © The British Library
Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 90
3.2 illustrated advertisement, Gardener’s Magazine, 1 (april 1826),
230 © The British Library Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 93
3.3 small ‘sketches’ made on a gardening tour, Gardener’s Magazine,
5 (dec 1829), 674 © The British Library Board. shelfmark P.P.
2200 96
3.4 ‘The anatomy of the Vine’, Gardener’s Magazine, 6 (Feb 1830),
16–17 © The British Library Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 98
3.5 Cheshunt Cottage seen from the road, Gardener’s Magazine,
15 (dec 1839), 633 © The British Library Board. shelfmark P.P.
2200 104
3.6 ‘View from the drawingroom Window at Cheshunt Cottage
looking to the right’, Gardener’s Magazine, 15 (dec 1839), 636
© The British Library Board. shelfmark P.P. 2200 106
3.7 estate Plan of Cheshunt Cottage, Gardener’s Magazine, 15
(dec 1839), 656–57 © The British Library Board. shelfmark
P.P. 2200 109