The Book of Topiary, by Charles H. Curtis; 1904; J. Lane, London, New York
“The most perfect specimen of topiary work with which we are acquainted is at Levens in Westmoreland. At that place a profusion of yews, hollies, and other evergreens have been transformed into more shapes than Proteus would trouble himself to assume, unless he happened to be in a more than usually changeable humopur. Here is Madame la Reine with her arms most royally akimbo, opposite to Monsieur le Roi bearing the semblance (we will not say how near) of a kingly crown. Not far distant are some trees like gigantic chessmen. The smaller shrubs, of which there is a vast number, greenly shadow forth cones, vubes, vases, foaming tanklards, &c.”
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Letters From a Cat (1879) | Castaway on the Auckland Isles: A Narrative of the Wreck of the "Grafton," (1865) | Infant's Cabinet of Birds and Beasts (1820) | Old French Fairytales (1920) |
Armata: a fragment (1817) | An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism (1803) | The Medical Aspects of Death, and the Medical Aspects of the Human Mind (1852) | Quarles' Emblems (1886) |
Cat and bird stories from the "Spectator" (1896) | Wonderful Balloon Ascents (1870) | The Book of Topiary (1904) | The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (1899) |