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Case five



[Rene Rapin], Rapin of gardens. a Latin poem. English'd by Mr. Gardiner. 2nd edition, revised and finish'd. London: Printed by W. Bowyer for Bernard Lintot, [1718]. DeBeer Eb/1718/R

Poetic ideal

The two editions on display of Gardiner's English translation of René Rapin's long poem on gardens illustrate parts of the ideal country estate of the late 17th century. The illustration in this 1706 edition shows groves and formal wilderness plantations in the background, and parterres (descendants of knot gardens) on either side of the central allée.

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Book II of the 1718 edition depicts muscular gardeners working in a grove, a type of plantation fashionable in France, Italy and England throughout the 16th-17th century.

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