Travel writing and the ‘compleatest’ landscapes: understanding the landscape and lexicon of Eighteenth-Century English designed landscapes

Crawley, Louise Alexandra Wilson (2024) Travel writing and the ‘compleatest’ landscapes: understanding the landscape and lexicon of Eighteenth-Century English designed landscapes. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis considers the descriptive language of landscape as understood and used by the upper echelons of society in England during the long eighteenth century (c.1700-c.1820). It contends that a far wider descriptive vocabulary with codified application to specific landscape features and forms was in use than the historiography currently recognises, which in most instances is limited to ‘picturesque’, ‘sublime’ and ‘beautiful’. Through the study of manuscript domestic travel writing produced by those who ‘consumed’ designed landscapes (those who visited, commissioned, and owned them) a far wider vocabulary of ‘lesser’ terms with equally strong patterns of usage emerges, such as ‘pretty’, ‘rich’, ‘magnificent’ and ‘handsome’. ‘Beautiful’, ‘picturesque’ and ‘sublime’ have been revisited in this study for their use and understanding by ‘amateur’ travel writers, revealing some variation of use from the published theorists and authors, and landscape designers. The study suggests another readable layer to designed landscapes, accessible through descriptive language, the correct interpretation and recognition of which was essential to demonstrating cultural prowess and membership to ‘polite society’. Further study of the works of Humphry Repton demonstrates that this readability was actively manipulated to convey the desired impression of the landowner to the visitor, and for those newly approaching ‘politeness’, instruction was provided as to how this may be attained through landscape. The study seeks to demonstrate the value of manuscript travel writing texts to the study of garden and landscape history in this period; to decode the codified descriptive language that was far more prevalent than ‘picturesque’ and ‘sublime’ amongst unpublished authors, and to explore the significance of understanding descriptive language use as it was intended in the past, as vital evidence for the understanding of historic designed landscapes in the present.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User:	Zoe White
Date Deposited:	03 Apr 2025 14:36
Last Modified:	03 Apr 2025 14:36
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98930
DOI:

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