Note 1 — INTRODUCTION

Before 1753 there was no guide to any English garden except Stowe; by then the Stowe guidebook had gone through sixteen editions (one in French) plus two pirated editions, the Dialogue itself which mentions the guidebook on p. 17, and two sets of engraved views. For a modern account of Stowe see Christopher Hussey, English Gardens and Landscapes, 1700-1750 (London: Country Life, 1967), pp. 89-113. As a companion piece to this facsimile of Dialogue, ARS plans to publish in its 1976-77 series a facsimile of the Beauties of Stowe (1750), with an introduction by George Clarke.