Legacy
Books to Build Dreams
Pierre du Pont was an avid book and manuscript collector, and his volumes made up The Longwood Library, which in 1961 was moved to Delaware to become the basis for the collection of the Hagley Museum and Library. His horticultural and landscape books remained at Longwood, however, where they are a treasured part of the Longwood Gardens Library & Archives. During the Country Place Era (1890– 1930), the educated public’s interest in historic gardens, particularly from Italy, was encouraged by the publication of beautifully illustrated books, especially by
British and American authors. Folios were also written by the French. Pierre du Pont owned many of these tomes, although how and when he acquired them is usually not known. Perhaps he paid cash at bookstores in Paris, London, New York, and Philadelphia. Perhaps some were gifts. In any event, he had access to outstanding printed resources that provided him with inspiration and detailed plans that he could draw upon when designing his own gardens. Shown here are a selection of books largely from Pierre’s personal collection, now part of the Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.
John Leyland, Gardens Old and New, 1900.
E. March Phillipps and Charles Latham, The Gardens of Italy, 1905.
Photographs by David Ward
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Thomas H. Mawson, The Art & Craft of Garden Making, 1907.