Gertrude Jekyll -Essays on the Life of a Working Amateur
Edited by Primrose Arnander (Gertrude’s great great niece) and Professor Michael Tooley, this is a full account of her life and work in the form of essays by a group of experts on gardens, garden history, design and related subjects; also, three members of her family have made contributions, including one who knew her well, her great nephew, David McKenna. The other contributors are: Heather Angel, Primrose Arnander, Mavis Batey, Richard Bisgrove, Joan Edwards, Paul Everson, Rudy J Favretti, Annabel Freyberg, Fenja Gunn, Margaret Hastings, Susan Schnare, June Swann, Michael Tooley and Martin Wood.
Aspects of Gertrude Jekyll covered include: family history (and a personal recollection), life, embroidery, workbook, Arts and Crafts influences, Munstead Wood (her home from 1896 to 1932), photography, American gardens, plant selection, breeding and supplying, gardening boots, general significance, bibliography, list of garden design commissions and chronology. The phrase ‘working amateur’ in the title refers to Gertrude Jekyll’s description of herself on the title page of Wood and Garden and elsewhere.
There are 256 pages and 146 illustrations (40 of which are in colour). Among the illustrations are some of Gertrude Jekyll’s own photographs, drawings and paintings.
The book is out of print, but available second hand through Amazon and other channels.