- 2004 first edition, 269 pages
- Published by The Miegunyah Press, Australia
- Hardcover with dust jacket, burgandy boards and end papers
- Very good condition, clear cover over dust jacket, libray stamps on end papers, (barely visible) and on page edges
Rare book in New Zealand. Colour illustrated and index included.
When European settled the Australia colonies they saw beyond the wilderness of the bush to thepossibliities of an ideal landscape. But first the land had to be cleared. And to make a clearing in the colonies was to erase what existed in nature and replace it with something new.
In Clearings, Paul Foz tells the stories of six colonial gardeners and their making of the Australian landscape. These are tales of strong characters and determination. Sir William Macarthur, the colonial gentleman, took pride in besting a great London nursery. The passionate and energetic nurseyman, Thomas Lang, imported over a million plants into the country. Daniel Bunce, a man of 'uncertain reputation' lived on the edge of society and came to understand something of how Aboriginal people saw their country. William Guilfoyle combined his pioneering experience with the aesthetics of gardening design and a grand vision to create the magic of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. Josiah Mitchell championed new farming practices through his journalism and lecturing. A gardener, William Ferguson, became a forester but could only conceive a forest in European terms.
The individual stories reveal the nuances in the history of nineteenth-century botany, horticulture and plant collecting. Through the nursey, the botanci garden, the farm and the forest the colonial landscape was transformed.
Using the gardeners' writings and a range of beautiful illustrations, including garden plans, botanic illustrations and photographs from the period, Paul Fox evocatively charts the progress of these gardeners as they made the clearings we still inhabit.
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