Captures in unprecedented depth the cultural significance of the designed landscape and its relationship with Bluestocking philosophy.
Situated within the broader context of eighteenth-century intellectual and cultural history, this collection redefines the role of the Bluestocking circle in shaping Britain’s landscapes and social ideals. Against the backdrop of Whiggish notions of ‘improvement’-encompassing agricultural innovation, aesthetic refinement, and moral progress-it explores how women such as Elizabeth Montagu, Mary Delany, and Elizabeth Carter navigated the intersections of polite sociability, intellectual production, and estate management. Their contributions reveal a dynamic interplay between cultural critique and practical reform, positioning them as active participants in the period’s debates on land, labour, and national identity.
Drawing on insights from the Elizabeth Montagu’s Correspondence Online (EMCO) project, these essays uncover the creative and social tensions embedded in iconic estates such as Montagu’s Sandleford and Lord Lyttelton’s Hagley Hall. They delve into the poetic and philosophical musings of James Woodhouse, the sociable artistry of Mary Delany, and the symbolic landscapes of Wrest Park. By examining correspondence, poetry, visual arts, and cartography, this volume offers an unprecedented exploration of the ways Bluestocking women engaged with and redefined the designed landscape as a site of intellectual and environmental innovation.
This interdisciplinary collection reshapes the historiography of gender, environment, and cultural progress, offering fresh insights into the enduring significance of eighteenth-century landscapes and the intellectual communities that shaped them.
Содержание
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword: ‘Bringing Elizabeth Montagu to the World’ —
Joanna Barker and Nicole Pohl
Introduction: ‘The Prospect of Improvement: Bluestockings and Landscape in Eighteenth-Century Britain’ —
Markman Ellis and Jack Orchard
Section One
1. ‘Idioms of Improvement: Gender and Social Relations on the Montagu Estates, 1730-1800’ —
Steve Hindle
2. ‘Religious Faith, Class Politics, and Equitable Progress: James Woodhouse and Elizabeth Montagu’s Contending Visions of Improvement’ —
Adam Bridgen and Steve Van Hagen
3. ‘Cultivating Wilderness’ —
Ve-Yin Tee
Section Two
4. ‘Another Little Excursion’: On Tour with Mrs Montagu and Lord Lyttelton’ —
Michael Cousins
5. ‘Cultivating Land, Literature, Letters: Textualities of Improvement in Elizabeth Montagu’s Travels in Scotland’ —
Millie Schurch
6. »She had no eyes nor understanding to see that it was
not a common vulgar garden’: Mary Delany’s Landscapes of Improvement’ —
Kristina Decker
7. ‘Ladies of Landscape: The Discovery of Lady Harriett Garnier’s
ferme ornée at Rookesbury, Hampshire’ —
Rosemary Baird Andreae
Section Three
8. ‘The Genius of Rest … those Happy Groves Inspired’: Literary Composition, Coterie Sociability, and the Gardens at Wrest Park’ —
Jemima Hubberstey
9. »Fate led me from my lov’d retreat’: the city and the country in Elizabeth Harcourt’s writings’ —
Mary Chadwick
10. »Death’s Refreshing Shade’: Elizabeth Carter, ‘Church-yard Poetry’ and Contemplative Retirement in the Gardens of the Dead’ —
James Metcalf
Afterword: ‘Bluestocking Landscapes’ —
Stephen Bending
Bibliography
Об авторе
JACK ORCHARD is Content Editor of the Electronic Enlightenment project based at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford
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