Italian Villas and Their Gardens.

WHARTON, Edith; Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish.

Item Number: 140629

New York: The Century Company, 1904.

First edition of Wharton’s classic treatise on “Italian garden-magic.” Quarto, original dark green cloth, top edge gilt. With 45 full-page plates, including 26 illustrations by Maxfield Parrish (15 in color), seven in-text and 19 black-and-white photographic illustrations. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

Edith Wharton’s Italian Villas and Their Gardens, a seminal work on garden design, is a testament to the passionate connoisseurship of one of America’s greatest writers. A comprehensive look at the history and character of Italian garden architecture and ornamentation, the book explores more than seventy-five villas, capturing what Wharton calls their "garden-magic" and illuminating the intimate relationship between the house, its formal gardens, and the surrounding countryside. "...Parrish illustrations, in trademark dreamy, fairy-tale style--seems to dislocate these legendary gardens from time altogether" (Forbes).