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A Place of Beauty: The Artists and Gardens of the Cornish Colony

© Diana Pederson

Alma M. Gilbert is an art historian and Judith B. Tankard is a landscape historian. Together they authored A Place of Beauty: The Artists and Gardens of the Cornish Colony , which was published by Ten Speed in 2000.

Cornish, New Hampshire became the home of various artists in the early 20th century.. According to the introduction, the Cornish colony covered a broader area than just the village of Cornish. It was considered "state of mind" rather than a geographic region. A lawyer, by the name of Charles C. Beaman brought his new bride to this area. Wanting to develop a social life, he bought up many farms in the area and resold them to his friends who were artists, writers and politicians.

The first step taken by many newcomers to the old farms was to remodel them into summer houses complete with art studios and large gardens. Chapters 1 through 4 of A Place of Beauty: The Artists and Gardens of the Cornish Colony describe the people and the life of this colony. If you are into art history, you'll surely enjoy this section of the book. Chapter 5 talks about the history of the gardens in general terms. Then each of chapters 5-17 presents an in-depth discussion of one artist's garden. The entire book is illustrated with early photographs (black and white) and photographs of some of the restored gardens as they exist today.

If you are looking for a book about plants for the garden, this isn't the book for you. However, if you enjoy art and learning about the artists' lifestyles or about the creation of old gardens, you should be fascinated with this book. I found it easy to read even though the topic was not of particular interest to me. This book served to stimulate an interest in learning about some of the other historical gardens of North America.