The Parks, Promenades and Gardens of Paris Described and Considered in Relation to the Wants of our Own Cities

The innovative gardener and writer William Robinson (1838–1935), many of whose other works are reissued in this series, was sent by The Times as its horticultural correspondent to the Paris International Exposition of 1867. As a result of his visit, he produced two books, one on gardening trends in France, and this work of 1869 on the parks and gardens of Paris and its environs (including Versailles), and on the fruit and vegetable farming which fed the famous Parisian food markets such as Les Halles. Robinson admired especially the small planted open spaces, squares and courtyards in Paris, which had no equivalent in London, and which he claimed were 'saving [its inhabitants] from pestilential overcrowding, and making their city something besides a place for all to live out of who can afford it'. This highly illustrated work will interest not only historians of horticulture but also lovers of Paris.

Introduction; 1. The Champs Elysées, the Louvre and the Tuileries; 2. The Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes; 3. The Parc Monceau; 4. The Parc des Buttes Chaumont; 5. The Jardin des Plants and the gardens of the Luxembourg; 6. The squares; 7. The boulevards; 8. The Jardin Fleuriste and other public nurseries; 9. Trees for city parks; 10. Subtropical plants; 11. Hardy plants for the subtropical garden; 12. Versailles; 13. The plant decoration of apartments; 14. Fruit culture; 15. The cordon system; 16. Training; 17. Fig culture in the neighbourhood of Paris; 18. The imperial fruit and forcing gardens at Versailles; 19. The peach gardens of Montreuil; 20. The market gardens of Paris; 21. Mushroom culture; 22. The culture of salads; 23. Asparagus culture; 24. Vegetables of the Paris market; 25. Flower, fruit, and vegetable markets; 26. Horticultural machines, implements, appliances, etc.; 27. Notes of a cultural tour through parts of France; Index.