Frederick Law Olmsted Designing the American Landscape

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape

By Chalres E. Beveridge and Paul Rocheleau
Edited and designed by David Larkin

A man of passionate vision and drive, Frederick Law Olmsted defined and named the profession of landscape architecture and designed America's most beloved parks and landscapes of the past century--New York's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Biltmore Estate, and many others. During a remarkable forty-year career that began in the mid-1800s, Olmsted created the first park systems, urban greenways, and suburban residential communities in this country. He was a pivotal figure in the movement to create and preserve natural parks such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Niagara Falls; and he contributed to the design of many academic campuses, including Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Today there is a resurgence of interest in Olmsted's work and legacy in both the United States and Europe. This timely volume, following the format of Rizzoli's successful Masterworks series, presents the breadth of Olmsted's work in expansive, beautiful color photographs by Paul Rocheleau, who conceived this book. The engaging text illuminates Olmsted's role as an indefatigable administrator and social reformer, a man who slept a scant few hours each night and rallied around causes ranging from anti-slavery to sanitary regulation. Olmsted's career refelected a deep concern for fostering community and using the restorative effects of natural scenery to counteract the debilitating forces of the modern city. 'Olmsted's goal was to help create an American society where all people had the qualities of gentility,' writes author Beveridge, an eminent Olmsted scholar.

Charles E. Beveridge is Series Editor of the Frederick Law Olmsted Papers, Department of History, American University, Washington, D.C.

Paul Rocheleau is a senior photographer for The Magazine Antiques and the Smithsonian New England Guides. His growing list of successful books includes Classic America, Victorian America, Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks, and American Masterworks: The Twentieth-Century House, all for Rizzoli.

David Larkin is well known as a designer and director of illustrated books. Working with Paul Rocheleau, he has compiled Classic America, Victorian America, Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks, and American Masterworks: The Twentieth-Century House, among others.