{"id":6370,"date":"2022-06-08T15:55:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T22:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=6370"},"modified":"2023-07-06T13:32:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T20:32:51","slug":"a-clearing-in-the-distance-frederick-law-olmsted-and-america-in-the-nineteenth-century","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/a-clearing-in-the-distance-frederick-law-olmsted-and-america-in-the-nineteenth-century\/","title":{"rendered":"A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cA Clearing in the Distance\u201d by Witold Rybczynski was published in 1999 but has stood the test of time.\u00a0 The author takes a personal approach, interjecting his opinions on the actions of his subject: \u201cAnd now, I feel myself becoming impatient with Olmsted.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t he just get on with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of this level of engagement, I recommend this book as a good starting point for learning about both Olmsted\u2019s personal and professional life.\u00a0 The integration of contemporary and modern perspectives and vignettes is a very effective approach for describing an era to readers 150 and more years later.<\/p>\n

The author is also adept at illustrating the qualities in Olmsted that best define his profession: the ability to form a long range vision, and live with it through the scrutiny and compromise to conclusion, or to know when to cut your losses and move on to the next project.<\/p>\n

Rybczynski\u2019s research includes visits to surviving projects, such Brooklyn\u2019s Prospect Park or Montreal\u2019s Mount Royal.\u00a0 He also is familiar with the Olmsted plan for Tacoma, describing the solution of the hilly site as \u201can elegant solution\u201d and lamenting that \u201cthe railroad directors would have none of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpted from the Summer 2022 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA Clearing in the Distance\u201d by Witold Rybczynski was published in 1999 but has stood the test of time.\u00a0 The author takes a personal approach, interjecting his opinions on the actions of his subject: \u201cAnd now, I feel myself becoming impatient with Olmsted.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t he just get on with it?\u201d Because of this level of engagement, I recommend this book as a good starting point for learning about both Olmsted\u2019s personal and professional life.\u00a0 The integration of contemporary and…<\/p>\n

Continue reading A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[323,371,22],"class_list":["post-6370","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","keyword-landscape-architecture","keyword-olmsted","keyword-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/6370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=6370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}