Shakespeare's Gardens is a highly illustrated, informative book about the gardens that William Shakespeare knew as a boy and tended as a man, published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of his death in April 2016. This anniversary will be the focus of literary celebration of the life and work throughout the English speaking world and beyond. The book will focus on the gardens that Shakespeare knew, including the five gardens in Stratford upon Avon in which he gardened and explored. From his birthplace in Henley Street, to his childhood playground at Mary Arden's Farm, to his courting days at Anne Hathaway's Cottage and his final home at New Place - where he created a garden to reflect his fame and wealth.
Cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, these gardens are continually evolving to reflect our ongoing knowledge of his life.The book will also explore the plants that Shakespeare knew and wrote about: their use in his work and the meanings that his audiences would have picked up on - including mulberries, roses, daffodils, pansies, herbs and a host of other flowers. More than four centuries after the playwright lived, whenever we think of thyme, violets or roses, we are reminded of a line from his work.Shakespeare's Gardens brings together specially commissioned photography of the gardens with beautiful archive images of flowers, old herbals, and 16th century illustrations. It tells the story of Shakespeare's journey - from glove maker's son to national bard - and how he came to know so much about plants, flowers and gardens of the Elizabethan era.
A fascinating and beautiful book
When I embarked on reading Shakespeare's Gardens, I have to admit I was expecting a book chock full of glossy photographs and a few limited botanical descriptions - but it is so much more!
That said, Shakespeare's Gardens is sumptuously illustrated with garden photographs, mostly taken by Andrew Lawson (Photographer), depicting the glorious and quintessentially English gardens that are associated with Shakespeare around Stratford-upon-Avon in the UK.
Shakespeare's Gardens was originally released in 2016, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the bard's death. This updated 2021 edition of Shakespeare's Gardens includes expanded descriptions and photography depicting the refurbished New Place Garden.
Author Jackie Bennett's well-researched and comprehensive text delves deeply into the history of cultivation, land use and the medicinal use of herbs and other plants in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Fittingly, botanically-oriented quotations from many of Shakespeare's plays and poems appear frequently throughout the book, reinforcing his great familiarity with and interest in the uses and appearances of many plant species. While it's by no means an exhaustive biography of the bard, I believe a reading of Shakespeare's Gardens would provide valuable context for those readers who are concurrently undertaking study of one or more of his works.
I found Bennett's explanation of the evolving fashions in gardens, from Tudor times through to the present day, fascinating and eye-opening. Despite the book's title, it's likely that Shakespeare himself would have some difficulty in recognising most of these spaces in their present, glorious, form. The elaborate gardens visitors now enjoy began to take shape in the late nineteenth century, and are largely representative of late Victorian and Edwardian styles, albeit incorporating some elements inspired by grander examples of the Tudor and early Stuart era, such as knot gardens, bowers and trained walks.
I've learned an awful lot of new and fascinating information about Shakespeare's life, his family and life in Elizabethan and early Stuart England from reading Shakespeare's Gardens. Not only that - I've been inspired to put in a bit more effort and incorporate more of these plants and elements into my own Antipodean garden.
Sarah, 16/05/2021
