Mary Mark Ockerbloom (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} merrigold) wrote,@ 2007-09-01 20:12:00 |
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Update: Illustrated "Gardening by Myself"
I am happy to announce that ALL sections of Mrs. Gatty's "Book of Sun-dials" are now assigned. Thanks to everyone who is helping to work on this!
I am also delighted to announce the addition of color illustrations to Anna Warner's book, "Gardening By Myself". We recently drove through New York State, and stopped to tour Constitution Island, where Anna and Susan Warner lived and wrote. I took lots of photographs, some of which I've added to the on-line edition of Anna Warner's book:
Gardening by Myself
By Anna Bartlett Warner (1827-1915)
New York, A. D. F. Randolph & Co., 1872.
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wo
Constitution Island is across from West Point, and was left to West Point by Anna Warner. Access to the island is limited, so if you are interested in visiting, you should check with the Constitution Island Association http://www.constitutionisland.org/
Our kids enjoyed the boat ride over to the island as well as the tour around the house and grounds. On the island, we saw various fortifications dating back to the Revolutionary and Civil wars, as well as the Warner house and gardens. The house and gardens have been restored fairly accurately to the way they were in the 1870's, thanks to members of the Constitution Island Association, who maintain the gardens, and serve as docents for the tours.
The Warners ended up on Constitution Island rather unexpectedly. Henry Warner was a successful New York lawyer, with an interest in speculation. He bought Constitution Island thinking it might be a suitable location for a spa. A few small rooms left from the barracks of 1775 were the only building on the island, and Warner had them expanded to serve as a summer home. The new addition featured high ceilings and larger windows, but no fireplaces. In 1837, as part of a financial panic, Henry lost his fortune. With his young daughters Anna and Susan, and their Aunt Fanny, he moved to the island. The Warners lived there for the rest of their lives. In the winter, they retreated to the original rooms of the house, where fires could be burned, closing off the unheated addition until warm weather returned.
The rooms the Warners lived in are maintained much as they were when Anna Warner lived in the house, and the Warner's actual possessions and furniture remain there. Anna's garden tools can be seen in the kitchen. A small writing desk by a window may be the spot where Susan wrote novels. Little is left from their upper-class life in New York: a few pieces of silverware, some bits and pieces of china, a picture or two. (One important portrait remained because it was collateral for a loan, and so could not be sold off by the bailiffs!) The only thing the Warners managed to keep was their books. Clearly, they loved books! Almost every room in the house has high shelves, filled with titles, many in beautiful condition. They even had a "travelling bookcase," which could be closed up and taken along when visiting elsewhere.
The interior of the house is dark. Limited electric lighting has been added for tours. I was struck by the windows. In parts of the house, the walls are almost three feet deep, and the windows are very small. The summer windows tended to be larger for cross-ventilation. Notably, almost every window affords a lovely view of one of Anna Warner's gardens.
The restored gardens include a long walking path up to the house, a cutting garden, and an herb garden. There is also a sheltered corner with some rose bushes, and a tiny grape arbour. The Constitution Island Association has worked hard to restore the gardens so that the plants in them are true to Anna Warner's descriptions in "Gardening By Myself". When we visited, the cutting garden was filled with a colorful riot of zinnias and dahlias. One or two persistent roses lingered in the rose garden. The herb garden was redolent of lavender and sage. The show-piece of the grounds was the 300-foot-long pathway leading to the house. None of my photographs really do justice to it. Drifts of phlox, black-eyed susans, daisies, a few late lilies, globe thistle, celosia, salvia, cleome, artemisia, and many more plants, attracted clouds of bees and butterflies. The pathway is graceful, relaxing, and welcoming. It is quite a contrast to the jutting rocks and ragged trees surrounding it. It's impressive that Anna Warner managed to create this arc of beauty in such a wild spot. Even in the summer sun, I couldn't help imagining the island on a damply windswept winter day, and shivering a little.
Best wishes to you all, Mary
I am happy to announce that ALL sections of Mrs. Gatty's "Book of Sun-dials" are now assigned. Thanks to everyone who is helping to work on this!
I am also delighted to announce the addition of color illustrations to Anna Warner's book, "Gardening By Myself". We recently drove through New York State, and stopped to tour Constitution Island, where Anna and Susan Warner lived and wrote. I took lots of photographs, some of which I've added to the on-line edition of Anna Warner's book:
Gardening by Myself
By Anna Bartlett Warner (1827-1915)
New York, A. D. F. Randolph & Co., 1872.
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wo
Constitution Island is across from West Point, and was left to West Point by Anna Warner. Access to the island is limited, so if you are interested in visiting, you should check with the Constitution Island Association http://www.constitutionisland.org/
Our kids enjoyed the boat ride over to the island as well as the tour around the house and grounds. On the island, we saw various fortifications dating back to the Revolutionary and Civil wars, as well as the Warner house and gardens. The house and gardens have been restored fairly accurately to the way they were in the 1870's, thanks to members of the Constitution Island Association, who maintain the gardens, and serve as docents for the tours.
The Warners ended up on Constitution Island rather unexpectedly. Henry Warner was a successful New York lawyer, with an interest in speculation. He bought Constitution Island thinking it might be a suitable location for a spa. A few small rooms left from the barracks of 1775 were the only building on the island, and Warner had them expanded to serve as a summer home. The new addition featured high ceilings and larger windows, but no fireplaces. In 1837, as part of a financial panic, Henry lost his fortune. With his young daughters Anna and Susan, and their Aunt Fanny, he moved to the island. The Warners lived there for the rest of their lives. In the winter, they retreated to the original rooms of the house, where fires could be burned, closing off the unheated addition until warm weather returned.
The rooms the Warners lived in are maintained much as they were when Anna Warner lived in the house, and the Warner's actual possessions and furniture remain there. Anna's garden tools can be seen in the kitchen. A small writing desk by a window may be the spot where Susan wrote novels. Little is left from their upper-class life in New York: a few pieces of silverware, some bits and pieces of china, a picture or two. (One important portrait remained because it was collateral for a loan, and so could not be sold off by the bailiffs!) The only thing the Warners managed to keep was their books. Clearly, they loved books! Almost every room in the house has high shelves, filled with titles, many in beautiful condition. They even had a "travelling bookcase," which could be closed up and taken along when visiting elsewhere.
The interior of the house is dark. Limited electric lighting has been added for tours. I was struck by the windows. In parts of the house, the walls are almost three feet deep, and the windows are very small. The summer windows tended to be larger for cross-ventilation. Notably, almost every window affords a lovely view of one of Anna Warner's gardens.
The restored gardens include a long walking path up to the house, a cutting garden, and an herb garden. There is also a sheltered corner with some rose bushes, and a tiny grape arbour. The Constitution Island Association has worked hard to restore the gardens so that the plants in them are true to Anna Warner's descriptions in "Gardening By Myself". When we visited, the cutting garden was filled with a colorful riot of zinnias and dahlias. One or two persistent roses lingered in the rose garden. The herb garden was redolent of lavender and sage. The show-piece of the grounds was the 300-foot-long pathway leading to the house. None of my photographs really do justice to it. Drifts of phlox, black-eyed susans, daisies, a few late lilies, globe thistle, celosia, salvia, cleome, artemisia, and many more plants, attracted clouds of bees and butterflies. The pathway is graceful, relaxing, and welcoming. It is quite a contrast to the jutting rocks and ragged trees surrounding it. It's impressive that Anna Warner managed to create this arc of beauty in such a wild spot. Even in the summer sun, I couldn't help imagining the island on a damply windswept winter day, and shivering a little.
Best wishes to you all, Mary
