In 1901, Thomas Mawson (1861-1933) first published 'The Art and Craft of Garden Making', now regarded as the foundation of modern landscape architecture. By 1926, it had been reprinted five times. It is this book which revealed Mawson's inspiration and gave a name to the style of work achieved by Edwin Lutyens & Gertrude Jekyll. Thomas Mawson was a prolific & influential designer who became the first president of the Institute of Landscape Architects (now Landscape Institute) in 1929. His design practice based in Windermere, in the English Lake District, prospered owing both to a wealthy...

When Thomas Mawson published his autobiography in1927 he was looking back over a 50 year career as a landscape architect, a reflection he found 'most congenial'. It is a story that charts not only his life, but also the development of his chosen profession as a creative art. Beginning with a 'passion for the arts' and practical experience of garden-making, architecture and forestry, he set out to contribute with others to 'a revival of intelligent and scholarly garden design'. He cites his luck in finding 'appreciative clients' and skilled assistants, as well as in moving in the right...