This first full study of Erasmus Darwin's gardening, horticulture and
agriculture shows he was as keen a nature enthusiast as his grandson
Charles, and demonstrates the ways in which his landscape experiences
transformed his understanding of nature.
Famous as the author of the Botanic Garden (1791) and grandfather of
Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was a
larger-than-life enlightenment natural philosopher (scientist) and
writer who practised as a doctor across the English Midlands for nearly
half a century. A practical gardener and horticulturist, Darwin created
a botanic garden near Lichfield - which galvanised his poetry - and kept
other gardens, an orchard and small "farm" in Derby. Informed by his
medical practice and botanical studies, Darwin saw many parallels
between animals, plants and humans which aroused hostility during the
years of revolution, warfare and reaction, but helped him to write
Zoonomia (1794/96) and Phytologia (1800) - his major studies of
medicine, agriculture and gardening. Captivated by the changing
landscapes and environments of town and country and supported by social
networks such as those in Lichfield and Derby, Darwin avidly exchanged
ideas about plants, animals and their diseases with family, patients,
friends such as the poet Anna Seward (1742-1809), farmers, fellow
doctors, huntsmen and even the local mole catcher.
The is the first full study of Erasmus Darwin's gardening, horticulture
and agriculture. It shows him as keen a nature enthusiast as his
contemporary Rev. Gilbert White of Selbourne (1720-1793) or his grandson
Charles, fascinated with everything from swarming insects and warring
bees to domestic birds and dogs, pigs and livestock on his farm to fungi
growing from horse dung in Derby tan yards. Ranging over his
observations of plant physiology and anatomy to the use of plant
"bandages" in his orchard and electrical machines to hasten seed
germination to explosive studies of vegetable "brains", nerves and
sensations, the book demonstrates the ways in which Erasmus Darwin's
landscape and garden experiences transformed his understanding of
nature. They provided him with insights into medicine and the
environmental causes of diseases, the classification of plants and
animals, chemistry, evolution, potential new medicines and foodstuffs
and the ecological interdependency of the natural economy. Like the
amorous vegetables of the Loves of the Plants (1789) which fascinated,
scandalised and titillated late Georgian society, the many living
creatures of Darwin's gardens and farm encountered in this book were for
him real, dynamic, interacting and evolving beings who helped inspire
and re-affirm his progressive social and political outlook.
