John Evelyn's 'Elysium Britannicum': Transplanting the Baroque Italian garden to restoration England

John Evelyn's (1620--1706) unfinished and partly mislaid "Elysium Britannicum" was begun in England in the 1650s amidst horticultural, scientific, and religious reform. This thesis examines Evelyn's interpretation of classical texts, natural philosophy, and divine contemplation as experienced within the physical structure of an Italian Baroque garden transplanted to an English environment. Chapter one provides both a review of the current literature on the Elysium Britannicum and a brief account of Evelyn's other works concerning garden architecture, including a defense of his Diary. Chapter two examines the inception of the Elysium Britannicum as a result of Evelyn's interactions with intellectual circles, particularly that of Samuel Hartlib. It then reconstructs the missing chapters of Books II and III and analyzes Evelyn's attempt to raise the status of the gardener in England. Chapter three evaluates Evelyn's contentious relationship with five underlying concepts of Italian Baroque garden architecture as defined by John Dixon Hunt, highlighting Evelyn's intentional deviations from the conventions of the continent. Chapter four demonstrates that the Elysium Britannicum can be viewed not just as instructions for constructing a garden, but as a didactic manual designed to teach the practice of divine contemplation in the garden through scientifically studying and piously meditating upon Nature.