A collection of family and professional material relating to the English landscape gardener, architect, and author Humphry Repton.

Humphry Repton (1752-1818) was one of England's leading landscape gardeners. Repton was born in Bury St. Edmonds, England, and was originally meant to become a merchant in the textile trade but he was not a success. He married Mary Clarke in 1773 and, together, they had four children. After the death of his parents in 1778, Repton moved the family to a small country estate at Sustead, Norfolk, to be near his sister Dorothy (Repton) Adey and her husband John Adey, a solicitor. While living in Norfolk, Repton was encouraged to study botany and gardening by a childhood friend, but with his capital dwindling, he moved to a cottage near Romford in Essex. At this time, Repton decided to combine his talented sketching skills with his limited horticulture knowledge and begin a career as a professional landscape gardener, a term he coined himself. To help clients visualize his designs, Repton produced 'Red Books' (so called for their binding) with explanatory text and watercolors with a system of overlays to show 'before' and 'after' views. Repton went on to become the most celebrated landscape garden designer of the eighteenth century.

4.6 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

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