On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening, with Biographical Notices of Them, 2nd edition, with considerable additions — Inside the Classic

A Catalogue of Faces and Lives

Felton organizes his material alphabetically by author, but the entries are far from uniform. Some, like that of William Shenstone, receive extended treatment: Felton quotes Dr. Johnson on Shenstone's 'life unstained by any crime' and praises his 'pure and classic taste in landscape gardening.' Others are brief, noting only that a portrait is known to exist or that the author's works are scarce. The book's subtitle promises 'biographical notices,' and Felton delivers them in a voice that is often personal and opinionated. He calls the horticulturist John Hanbury 'indefatigable' and laments that his 'immense labours are in a manner lost to the public.' Such remarks reveal Felton's own priorities: he values practical knowledge and literary reputation equally.

The Horrors of a Country Tale

One of the most striking passages in the excerpts is a long, gruesome anecdote about two elderly sisters who buried a pair of dogs alive. Felton includes the story not as a digression but as part of his entry on an unnamed source—likely a letter from Mr. Hanbury. The narrative is detailed and visceral: the dogs were covered with black thorns and earth, their howling heard for nearly three weeks, and the larger dog eventually ate part of the smaller one. Felton then reports that the sisters died within months, leaving £12,000 to hospitals despite having given only sixpenny loaves to the poor. This macabre tale serves as a moral exemplum about hypocrisy and cruelty, and it shows Felton's willingness to include sensational material when it illuminates character.

Movement Between Eras and Sources

Felton's method is to move freely between centuries and genres. He quotes Dr. Johnson on portrait painting—'that art which is employed in diffusing friendship, in reviving tenderness'—and then applies the same sentiment to the obscure authors he catalogs. He also borrows from earlier writers like Mr. Marshall, whose Planting and Rural Ornament supplies extracts from Hanbury. The book's structure thus mirrors the network of references and debts that connect gardening writers across time. Felton's own voice is that of a collector and annotator, assembling fragments into a coherent if uneven whole. The second edition's 'considerable additions' likely expanded these linkages, making the book more a reference work than a narrative.

Recurring Images: Portraits as Windows

Throughout the excerpts, Felton returns to the idea that a portrait can make the past present. He quotes Johnson again: portraits 'continue the presence of the dead.' He imagines the town-hall of Hereford adorned with a 'life-breathing portrait' of Dr. Beale, embodying 'his spirit, his feelings, and his character.' This desire to see the faces of writers whose works have pleased him drives the entire project. Yet Felton is also aware of the limits of his evidence. Many portraits are lost or unverified; he can only hope that they 'may yet be with their surviving relatives or descendants.' The book is thus as much about absence as presence—a record of what might be found rather than what is certainly known.

Felton's work rewards readers who enjoy the byways of literary history. It is not a systematic bibliography but a personal collection of notes, anecdotes, and judgments. The second edition's additions suggest that Felton continued to gather material after the first printing, making the book a living document of its author's obsessions. For those interested in the intersection of gardening, biography, and portraiture, it offers a unique window into early nineteenth-century antiquarianism.

Rain fell against the window while I lingered over Felton’s gentle accounts of forgotten gardeners, their faces staring from old plates. His patient digging through letters and anecdotes reminded me of roots seeking nourishment. That afternoon, almost without deciding, I reached for Principles and practice of agricultural analysis. Volume 2 (of 3), Fertilizers — Reading Companion, and found the same quiet diligence—tending what grows beneath the noticed blooms.