Background

Andrew Jackson Downing was born on October 30, 1815 at Newburgh, New York, United States. His father, Samuel Downing, originally a wheelwright, moved from Lexington, Massachusetts, to New York shortly after 1800, and finally settled at Newburgh on the Hudson in 1801.

Education

Downing attended an academy at Montgomery, where he was later remembered as a quiet reserved boy, but proud in spirit.

He completed his formal schooling at the age of sixteen, and refusing to be influenced by his mother, who sought to apprentice him as a dry-goods clerk, indicated his taste by joining his elder brother, Charles, in operating the nursery.

Career

After schooling at the age of sixteen Downing started operating the nursery. He began to make short excursions to the fine estates on the banks of the Hudson for purposes of observation and to better train himself in landscape design.

With the Austrian Baron de Lid- erer, who had a summer home at Newburgh, he explored the hills and dales of the neighborhood, studying and discussing their mineralogical and botanical aspects.

Then Downing who was most influenced by Raphael Hoyle, the young English landscape painter and Charles Augustus Murray, the English travel writer began to write.

His first essay was a description of the Danskamer or Devil’s Landing Place, near Newburgh, published in the New York Mirror.

It was followed by an account of Beacon Hill.

He then wrote a discussion of novel-reading and several botanical papers which appeared in a Boston journal.

Apparently dissatisfied with these efforts, however, he resolved not to publish again until he could write with authority, in the meantime devoting himself to hard work in the nursery, studying landscape gardening, and reading classical literature.

He built a house of his own design upon a six-acre tract at Newburgh, molding into it the thoughts which he had evolved through the preceding years. Simultaneously with the establishment of his home, he plunged into the preparation of a work on landscape gardening.

Completed and published in 1841 under the title, A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adapted to North America, the book won immediate popularity, passed rapidly through numerous editions the latest being 1921 and was quickly ranked as a classic.

In 1841 also, in conjunction with Asa Gray, he brought out the first American edition of Lindley’s Theory of Horticulture. In 1842 he published Cottage Residences, in which the principles of Landscape Gardening were applied to the needs of more humble folk.

Following the publication of these works, he was elected an honorary member of most of the horticultural societies in America and a corresponding member of numerous foreign societies, and began an extensive correspondence with Loudon and other foreign notables who eagerly sought his opinions.

In 1841 also, in conjunction with Asa Gray, he brought out the first American edition of Lindley’s Theory of Horticulture.

In 1842 he published Cottage Residences, in which the principles of Landscape Gardening were applied to the needs of more humble folk. Following the publication of these works, he was elected an honorary member o’f most of the horticultural societies in America and a corresponding member of numerous foreign societies, and began an extensive correspondence with Loudon and other foreign notables who eagerly sought his opinions. In 1845, Wiley & Putnam published in New York and London, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, in the preparation of which Downing had been assisted by his brother Charles. The same year he also edited the first American publication of Mrs. Loudon’s Gardening for Ladies. In 1846, at the request of Luther Tucker, Downing accepted the editorship of the Horticulturist, a new periodical. He continued in this position until his death, his influence upon his contemporaries becoming even more noticeable. His editorials attracted such attention that an extensive correspondence sprang up between him and his readers, and he was thus enabled to establish a personal relation with hundreds who never saw him. Many of these editorials were republished in a posthumous volume, Rural Essays (1853).

Downing’s increased interest in architecture is shown in his writings and other activities after 1846. In 1849, he published Additional Notes and Hints to Persons about Building in this Country, in connection with a work by George Wightwick. This was followed the next year by Downing’s Architecture of Country Houses, Including Designs for Cottages, Farm Houses and Villas.

In 1850 he took a trip to England and France, a visit to which he had long looked forward, for he was a great admirer of the English rural scene. Here he met the notables of the day and was lionized on all sides, but did not neglect to obtain more information to add to his already large store. While abroad, he made an arrangement with Calvert Vaux, a young English architect, which led to a partnership for the purpose of building homes and preparing landscape gardens in America. The combination proved a happy one, and upon his return, with Vaux he designed and constructed the houses and grounds of a number of estates on Long Island, along the Hudson, and elsewhere. In he was engaged to lay out the grounds for the Capitol, the White House, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. His ideas and plans were carried into effect by his successors, but Downing did not live to complete the work.

On July 28, 1852, he embarked from Newburgh for New York on the steamer Henry Clay, with members of his family and friends. Opposite Yonkers, the captain engaged in a race with another boat. The Henry Clay caught fire, and many of the passengers were burned or drowned. Downing, cool in the face of disaster, gave minute instructions to the frightened people about, calmly gathered chairs and threw them overboard to assist those already struggling in the water, and, himself an excellent swimmer, was attempting to save his friends who could not swim when he was last seen alive.

Achievements

• Andrew Jackson Downing was the first great landscape designer in the United States.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening: With a View to the Improvement of Country Residences, Comprising Historical Notices and ... Library Collection - Botany and Horticulture)

    (This 1841 work by the American landscape designer and wri...)

  • Cottage Residences, Or, a Series of Designs for Rural Cottages and Cottage Villas, and Their Gardens and Grounds: Adapted to North America

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Andrew Jackson Downing: Essential Texts
  • A facsimile edition of a treatise on the theory and practice of landscape gardening: With the 1859 sixth ed. suppl. by Henry Winthrop Sargent

Personality

Downing was a tall, slight, Spanish-looking gentleman with a certain aristocratic hauteur and a constant sense of personal dignity, which comported well with his smile of quiet welcome.

Interests

• Writing essays, work in the nursery, studying landscape gardening and reading classical literature.

• Writers

  Charles Augustus Murray

• Artists

  Raphael Hoyle

Connections

In his twenty-third year (June 7, 1838) Downing married Caroline Elizabeth DeWint, a young woman of congenial spirit, refinement, and intelligence, the daughter of John P. DeWint of Fishkill Landing on the Hudson.

Father:

Samuel Downing

Spouse:

Caroline Elizabeth DeWint

Brother:

Charles