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A Clearing In The Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century
In a brilliant collaboration between writer and subject, Witold Rybczynski, the bestselling author of Home and City Life, illuminates Frederick Law Olmsted's role as a major cultural figure at the epicenter of nineteenth-century American history.
We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes -- among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, and Boston's Back Bay Fens. But Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded The Nation magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as the executive secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross.
Rybczynski's passion for his subject and his understanding of Olmsted's immense complexity and accomplishments make his book a triumphant work. In A Clearing in the Distance, the story of a great nineteenth-century American becomes an intellectual adventure.
We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes -- among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, and Boston's Back Bay Fens. But Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded The Nation magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as the executive secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross.
Rybczynski's passion for his subject and his understanding of Olmsted's immense complexity and accomplishments make his book a triumphant work. In A Clearing in the Distance, the story of a great nineteenth-century American becomes an intellectual adventure.
490 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
103 people are currently reading
2685 people want to read
About the author
Witold Rybczynski
57 books176 followersWitold Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh, of Polish parentage, raised in London, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He studied architecture at McGill University in Montreal, where he also taught for twenty years. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also co-edits the Wharton Real Estate Review. Rybczynski has designed and built houses as a registered architect, as well as doing practical experiments in low-cost housing, which took him to Mexico, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and China.
(From www.witoldrybczynski.com)
(From www.witoldrybczynski.com)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
January 23, 2021
This book is quite the epoch about the life and work of Fredrick Law Olmsted. He is best known for his work designing public parks like Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Central Park in Manhattan. But he had such a rich and full life!
Because of his father's patronage, he was able to try his hand at many different occupations before settling on his occupational legacy. He was a "scientific farmer", a newspaper journalist, he ran a publishing house, he wrote a couple successful books, he was a leader of the US Sanitary Commission (a precursor to The Red Cross) and he managed a gold mine estate in California!
The book is long and tedious but it's a detailed account of his life. I read this over a period of two months as my " slow and steady", reading about 3 chapters each time I chose to read it. Anything more than that and the writing and facts became seemingly dry.
It was a pleasure to see so many familiar names mentioned who were friends, colleages, and acquaintances of Olmsted.
And... He was a staunch abolitionist! For that time period, it was a rare thing to find a wealthy man opposed to owning slaves. The great lengths he went to, to learn and uncover information about the nature of slave owners treatment of their slaves was estimably impressive! He wanted information for himself and went undercover in the south traveling from plantation to plantation in hopes of gathering truth.
Because of his father's patronage, he was able to try his hand at many different occupations before settling on his occupational legacy. He was a "scientific farmer", a newspaper journalist, he ran a publishing house, he wrote a couple successful books, he was a leader of the US Sanitary Commission (a precursor to The Red Cross) and he managed a gold mine estate in California!
The book is long and tedious but it's a detailed account of his life. I read this over a period of two months as my " slow and steady", reading about 3 chapters each time I chose to read it. Anything more than that and the writing and facts became seemingly dry.
It was a pleasure to see so many familiar names mentioned who were friends, colleages, and acquaintances of Olmsted.
And... He was a staunch abolitionist! For that time period, it was a rare thing to find a wealthy man opposed to owning slaves. The great lengths he went to, to learn and uncover information about the nature of slave owners treatment of their slaves was estimably impressive! He wanted information for himself and went undercover in the south traveling from plantation to plantation in hopes of gathering truth.
November 16, 2014
A Clearing in the Distance is a highly enjoyable book about Frederick Law Olmsted who is commonly held to be the greatest Landscape Architect in American history. Central Park is his most famous project but he also built Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Mount Royal in Montreal, Chicago's Riverside parks; the park system for Buffalo, Wisconsin's grand necklace of parks; and the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls. Rybczynski provides a wonderful life story of multi-faceted individual, a thorough review of his work as a landscape architect and a detailed analysis of his extraordinary writings on slavery which made great contribution to the abolitonist cause and which continue to guide historians to this day.
The amazing thing was that Frederick Law Olmsted had no training in either architecture or landscaping. He began his career in a landscape architect in the most round-about way. Due to his political connections he obtained the position of the superintendent of Central Park in 1857. When the architect died the next year in an accident, Olmsted allied himself with the architect Calvert Vaux in the competition for new park design. Whether due to Olmsted's insider status or the merits of his design, the Calvert-Vaux entry was successful.
Olmsted proved to be an exceptionally good organizer and project supervisor. However, at this point his commitment to landscape architecture as a career was partial at best. In 1861, he reduced his role in Central Park to a part time status in order to head the U.S. Sanitary Commission which was responsible for the mobile hospitals of the Union Army. In 1863, Olmsted left the Sanitary Commission to manage a mining estate in Califorrnia where he also became briefly involved in the Yosemite Park Commission.
In 1865, his partner Calvert Vaux persuaded Olmsted to return to Brooklyn to help with the building of Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Olmsted did so and this time he remained faithful to his vocation working as a landscape architect until his retirement in 1895.
Under Rybczynski's pen Olmsted emerges above all as a mover and shaker who networked brilliantly and was highly skilled at political infighting. Olmsted was also a man who recruited his assistants brilliantly and generously delegated authority. Olmsted travelled throughout his life. He had visited many of the famous parks in Europe. He knew the major landscape architects of England and France whose brains he assiduously picked. Rather than a design philosophy, he had an instinctive preference for simplicity in his designs. He always exploited the benefits of the natural locations to the maximum. At the same time, he had the talent to convince his patrons that he was following their advice to the letter.
One is left with the observation that Rybcznski makes in his introduction that growing up in Montreal he also thorougly enjoyed whatever time he spent in Olmsted's Mount Royal Park. I myself liked this park as well as Central Park and the Buffalo Park System. Olmsted built great parks that continue to give great joy to their users to this day.
Somehow Rybczynski also finds time to elucidate the development of Olmsted's thinking on slavery and to describe the circumstances in which he wrote his tremendously important books on slavery. In my view Olmsted did for slavery otherwise what Thucydides did for the Peloponnesian war: that is to say he wrote a comprehensive overview of the peculiar institution that later historians would profoundly affect every historian who would later write on it. Law ignored nothing. He criticizes slavery as a profound attack He describes the whippings and other brutal treatment on the slaves. He addresses the issue of the sexual exploitation of the female slaves in as direct terms as possible for his era. Law is particularly brilliant in explaining how slavery undermines an economy. Because the slaves were not allowed to learn how to read, they were rendered unsuitable for most of the jobs in an increasingly technological or industrial society. Not being allowed to own things, they lacked motivation and became lazy. Their white masters then emulated the under-motivated slaves and developed appalling work habits themselves.
While historians of antiquity acknowledge their debt to Thucydides, the same cannot be said of the historians of slavery who all read Olmsted, adopt his viewpoint and then harp on the points of detail where his writing is weakest. Fortunately, Rybczynski treats writings on slavery with all the seriousness that they deserve. It is to hoped that future generations of American history undergraduates will be more strongly encouraged to read Olmsted's work on slavery than has been the case int he past.
The amazing thing was that Frederick Law Olmsted had no training in either architecture or landscaping. He began his career in a landscape architect in the most round-about way. Due to his political connections he obtained the position of the superintendent of Central Park in 1857. When the architect died the next year in an accident, Olmsted allied himself with the architect Calvert Vaux in the competition for new park design. Whether due to Olmsted's insider status or the merits of his design, the Calvert-Vaux entry was successful.
Olmsted proved to be an exceptionally good organizer and project supervisor. However, at this point his commitment to landscape architecture as a career was partial at best. In 1861, he reduced his role in Central Park to a part time status in order to head the U.S. Sanitary Commission which was responsible for the mobile hospitals of the Union Army. In 1863, Olmsted left the Sanitary Commission to manage a mining estate in Califorrnia where he also became briefly involved in the Yosemite Park Commission.
In 1865, his partner Calvert Vaux persuaded Olmsted to return to Brooklyn to help with the building of Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Olmsted did so and this time he remained faithful to his vocation working as a landscape architect until his retirement in 1895.
Under Rybczynski's pen Olmsted emerges above all as a mover and shaker who networked brilliantly and was highly skilled at political infighting. Olmsted was also a man who recruited his assistants brilliantly and generously delegated authority. Olmsted travelled throughout his life. He had visited many of the famous parks in Europe. He knew the major landscape architects of England and France whose brains he assiduously picked. Rather than a design philosophy, he had an instinctive preference for simplicity in his designs. He always exploited the benefits of the natural locations to the maximum. At the same time, he had the talent to convince his patrons that he was following their advice to the letter.
One is left with the observation that Rybcznski makes in his introduction that growing up in Montreal he also thorougly enjoyed whatever time he spent in Olmsted's Mount Royal Park. I myself liked this park as well as Central Park and the Buffalo Park System. Olmsted built great parks that continue to give great joy to their users to this day.
Somehow Rybczynski also finds time to elucidate the development of Olmsted's thinking on slavery and to describe the circumstances in which he wrote his tremendously important books on slavery. In my view Olmsted did for slavery otherwise what Thucydides did for the Peloponnesian war: that is to say he wrote a comprehensive overview of the peculiar institution that later historians would profoundly affect every historian who would later write on it. Law ignored nothing. He criticizes slavery as a profound attack He describes the whippings and other brutal treatment on the slaves. He addresses the issue of the sexual exploitation of the female slaves in as direct terms as possible for his era. Law is particularly brilliant in explaining how slavery undermines an economy. Because the slaves were not allowed to learn how to read, they were rendered unsuitable for most of the jobs in an increasingly technological or industrial society. Not being allowed to own things, they lacked motivation and became lazy. Their white masters then emulated the under-motivated slaves and developed appalling work habits themselves.
While historians of antiquity acknowledge their debt to Thucydides, the same cannot be said of the historians of slavery who all read Olmsted, adopt his viewpoint and then harp on the points of detail where his writing is weakest. Fortunately, Rybczynski treats writings on slavery with all the seriousness that they deserve. It is to hoped that future generations of American history undergraduates will be more strongly encouraged to read Olmsted's work on slavery than has been the case int he past.
February 11, 2024
An interesting story about the guy who created the profession of landscape architect/designer through unbelievable projects like Central Park and the Chicago Worlds Fair.
The story of Olmstead the journalist is more interesting. He travelled three times through the South prior to the Civil War to document the facts on the ground about slavery. He was not really a reformer, but came away with the simple conclusion that slavery was not economically viable - the cost of slaves was higher than laborers.
What he claimed is that the South wanted slaves not for economic reasons, but because they wanted servants who wouldn't talk back. Just power.
Great book
The story of Olmstead the journalist is more interesting. He travelled three times through the South prior to the Civil War to document the facts on the ground about slavery. He was not really a reformer, but came away with the simple conclusion that slavery was not economically viable - the cost of slaves was higher than laborers.
What he claimed is that the South wanted slaves not for economic reasons, but because they wanted servants who wouldn't talk back. Just power.
Great book
October 6, 2019
As a frequent visitor to Central Park I was quite curious to learn more about the man largely credited with its creation. And reading his story I was more than impressed with the many careers Olmstead undertook and the vast contributions he made to a number of social causes. There is no dearth of information in this book and that is it's tragic flaw. It reads like a collection of facts and information -- impressive nonetheless -- that come across in a rather dry way.
November 23, 2017
With a better editor this could have been great. Well-researched, but man it just gets so self-indulgent. The author can't seem to help but drop into first person in a way that's really jarring and there are these weird novelistic interludes that add little to the story (but that you can't skip because they do contain bits you'd need to understand what follows).
November 20, 2017
He designed Central Park and Belle Isle. A handy guy to have around.
May 5, 2014
A wonderful look into the life of one America's early most successful landscape architects. An amazing and illustrious career. Seems that every where ones goes in the US his influence lives on. I have a new appreciation for parks and public gardens.
June 1, 2017
I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future. In laying out Central Park we determined to think of no result to be realized in less than forty years.
So many surprises. Olmsted was an autodidact. A slow starter, a dabbler in disparate enterprises, he kept afloat with his father's loans. He was his father's 'Central Park', a long investment whose glories would become apparent in the future. Fame first came as a journalist. He sailed to China; he bought a farm; he traveled to Europe; he started a magazine; he managed the largest gold mine in California.
It is the breadth of Olmsted's curiosity that makes his writing compelling.
His genius was made manifest when he, along with Calvert Vaux, created New York City's Central Park. After that, Olmsted designed other huge city parks, the suburb of Riverside, IL, university campuses, cemeteries, state parks, the U.S. Capitol grounds, the World's Fair in Chicago, and the Biltmore Estate. I enjoyed reading about the projects he didn't get: Golden Gate Park, the city of Tacoma, WA.
The ability to think on a large scale, to project himself into the future, and to quickly master broad issues were skills Olmsted acquired while he was directing the United States Sanitary Commission, managing the Mariposa Estate, and chairing the Yosemite Commission. All these projects depended on his ability to digest and organize large amounts of information, and to integrate diverse requirements. All involved planning in time as well as space.
The timing of my reading this couldn't have been better. In some ways this is the daylight to the darkness of Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives. Riis writes extensively about the Children's Aid Society, started by Olmsted's closest friend, Charles Brace. Olmsted's work on Central Park was more civic than aesthetic, giving residents the space to soak up sunshine and fresh air.
Other reading intersections: Erik Larson's The Devil in White City made me thirsty to know more about FLO. Michael Pollan referenced Olmsted's ideas in Second Nature. Unintentionally, I've landed in books set in the late-19th century. The wider I read, the greater my familiarity grows and the joy of recognition sparks.
Finally, I believe growing up in Lombard, IL, walking through our own Lilacia Park, designed by Jens Jensen, and nearby Morton Arboretum, a 1700-acre tree museum, predisposed me to love this book.
Rated for myself and those interested in cultural history: 5 stars
Rated for people who like biographies and history and books with an index and maps: 4 stars
So many surprises. Olmsted was an autodidact. A slow starter, a dabbler in disparate enterprises, he kept afloat with his father's loans. He was his father's 'Central Park', a long investment whose glories would become apparent in the future. Fame first came as a journalist. He sailed to China; he bought a farm; he traveled to Europe; he started a magazine; he managed the largest gold mine in California.
It is the breadth of Olmsted's curiosity that makes his writing compelling.
His genius was made manifest when he, along with Calvert Vaux, created New York City's Central Park. After that, Olmsted designed other huge city parks, the suburb of Riverside, IL, university campuses, cemeteries, state parks, the U.S. Capitol grounds, the World's Fair in Chicago, and the Biltmore Estate. I enjoyed reading about the projects he didn't get: Golden Gate Park, the city of Tacoma, WA.
The ability to think on a large scale, to project himself into the future, and to quickly master broad issues were skills Olmsted acquired while he was directing the United States Sanitary Commission, managing the Mariposa Estate, and chairing the Yosemite Commission. All these projects depended on his ability to digest and organize large amounts of information, and to integrate diverse requirements. All involved planning in time as well as space.
The timing of my reading this couldn't have been better. In some ways this is the daylight to the darkness of Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives. Riis writes extensively about the Children's Aid Society, started by Olmsted's closest friend, Charles Brace. Olmsted's work on Central Park was more civic than aesthetic, giving residents the space to soak up sunshine and fresh air.
Other reading intersections: Erik Larson's The Devil in White City made me thirsty to know more about FLO. Michael Pollan referenced Olmsted's ideas in Second Nature. Unintentionally, I've landed in books set in the late-19th century. The wider I read, the greater my familiarity grows and the joy of recognition sparks.
Finally, I believe growing up in Lombard, IL, walking through our own Lilacia Park, designed by Jens Jensen, and nearby Morton Arboretum, a 1700-acre tree museum, predisposed me to love this book.
Rated for myself and those interested in cultural history: 5 stars
Rated for people who like biographies and history and books with an index and maps: 4 stars
September 12, 2015
This was my loooong, involved summer read. I try to do one of those each summer, because I have a really hard time with long books: no matter how good they are, I start drifting near the end. This wasn't easy to get through, but totally worth it and I recommend it.
Rybczynski does his best work in the sections about Olmsted, the Man, and not Olmsted, the Landscape Architect. Olmsted truly comes off, throughout the book, as just a great guy - someone I'd genuinely like as a human being and want to hang out with. I really appreciated the early-life history; his level of independence and his incredibly supportive father were fascinating. I also enjoyed anything pertaining to his difficulty in finding a profession; Rybczynski does a great job describing not only how unusual a lack of a life path is in this time period, but also how Olmsted's seemingly random life experiences were actually perfect for what he ended up doing. It gives me hope that I'll actually do something interesting some day. ;-) He comes off as thoughtful, intelligent, and generous of himself and his time - an extremely hard worker when he *does* have a project, it's just the finding of the project that's troublesome. Again, I can relate.
He's actually pretty easy to envy in terms of his talents and wide-range of interests, namely his writing ability. Before the whole landscape architecture thing, I was surprised to learn that Olmsted wrote a series of essays for the Times about the American South; he traveled all over, making observations and writing them down, with some excellent analysis. I don't believe I've ever read anything about the pre-Civil War south that was considered "even-keel;" in terms of, I've read some pretty racist shit and I've read passionate, abolitionist works. Olmsted, however, is unique in that he originally believed in a slow freeing of slaves, and it was only through the encouragement of Charles Brace (creator of the Children's Aid Society and wtf I wish I knew these people), a staunch abolitionist, that he decided to travel to the South and write these essays. As Brace predicted, once he saw what was happening, as well as ran the numbers for how slavery actually didn't save people money and to stfu with your racist b.s., he did become more "radical" - if you can call anti-slavery "radical." Anyway, his southern travels were my favorite part of the book, not just because of interestingness of the details, but because I felt like his letters from the time show a lot of his personality - he's a bit sassier, kind of making fun of how backwards the south is, etc. He is surprised by the pro-slavery sentiments expressed by a southern gentlemen he considers a friend, and writes to Brace, "they do not seem to have a fundamental sense of right . . . their moving power and the only motives which they can comprehend are materialistic." He isn't quoted as quite so blunt for the rest of the book, and that quote in particular speaks to his realization that he was not dealing with reasonable, rational people - which his why his own reasonable, rational thoughts on the subject weren't, actually, practical.
Speaking of writing, both Olmsted's and Rybczynski's is spot-on, perfect. Olmsted should probably be considered a co-author, considering his keeping of pretty much every letter he's ever received/written, and the heavy amounts of quotations from said letters. One of my favorite passages discussed his depression:
"Suppose a man who sees things so far differently from the mass of ordinary healthy men is thereby classed as of defective vision, as of diseased men. Then I have not a doubt that I was born with a defect of the eye, with a defect of the brain."
In terms of Rybczynski's writing, I have a suspicion that he's a robot or something, as I don't think he recognizes grammar mistakes or colloquialisms as even remote possibilities - that has a bit to do with how the book can be a bit dry, but not all, which I'll get into in a minute.
Getting back to social justice: The most wonderful thing about Olmsted is his marrying of landscape/environment with social justice. The idea that parks were for everyone, that everyone needed space to breathe, and treating such an idea with utmost respect and solemnity is beautiful. It really made me take a breath and a moment to be grateful for people who, hundreds of years ago, made decisions that seemed so crazy and far-reaching at the time, but continue to benefit my generation. If anything, that's the main reason to read this - to appreciate those with The Big Ideas, and support them, even they seem nuts. I kind of feel like we don't have enough crazy ideas today; everyone is too afraid to try anything, and every idea gets shot down because it isn't perfect. Olmsted's life is a great example of simply trying something and effectively changing the way people thought about nature forever.
I think the reason the book slowed down so much for me near the end of the second third (if that makes sense) is because of the descriptions of those attempts. After Central Park and Prospect Park were finished (or rather, everything was set into motion enough that they weren't requiring front and center attention), Rybczynski talks endlessly of almost every single project Olmsted was involved in. It gets way, way too dry. The thing is, if Rybczynski had tied each project to some sort of landscape architecture revolution, that'd be fine. But there were a couple of projects where, after 10 pages of description of who asked him to do the job, his response, who he worked with, the design itself, etc., we find out that . . . he ended up not doing it or it was changed so utterly it isn't really Olmsted's any more. Ugh. It made me want to rip my hair out. Aside from that, I could've had slightly more background/context in general; for instance, I loved reading about the influence of Brown and how that changed Prospect Park's design so much from Central Park's. Often, I felt like Rybczynski was forgetting to describe *why* some of Olmsted's designs were unique in terms of the field at large - perhaps he did so subtly that, as someone with no experience/knowledge of the subject, I missed it, but I doubt it considering that when he did, I remember it well.
It's funny - everything that sticks out to me, everything that I'll remember about this book and Olmsted's life (and I'm now a huge fangirl), little of it has to do with landscape architecture. It's more his belief system that informed his practice, that informed all of his accomplishments, that's incredible to me, as well as just his general personality and unique set of talents and abilities. Basically: Olmsted the Man is amazing, regardless of the work he put out, though I suppose you can't have one without the other.
One last thing I loved: His relationship with his wife, Mary. I can't lie, I did a bit of an eyebrow raise that he married his dead brother's wife, but it seems like a match made in Heaven. The equality and mutual respect of that relationship is really great to read about, especially considering the time period. He clearly valued her opinions and took her advice; she clearly cared deeply for him. I could read an entire book of their letters between each other. Not only that, but his love of spending time with his kids and lamenting of how he can be too busy to do so, struck a chord as well. A very Modern Man. Again, just seems like a great guy who surrounded himself with equally great people.
Rybczynski does his best work in the sections about Olmsted, the Man, and not Olmsted, the Landscape Architect. Olmsted truly comes off, throughout the book, as just a great guy - someone I'd genuinely like as a human being and want to hang out with. I really appreciated the early-life history; his level of independence and his incredibly supportive father were fascinating. I also enjoyed anything pertaining to his difficulty in finding a profession; Rybczynski does a great job describing not only how unusual a lack of a life path is in this time period, but also how Olmsted's seemingly random life experiences were actually perfect for what he ended up doing. It gives me hope that I'll actually do something interesting some day. ;-) He comes off as thoughtful, intelligent, and generous of himself and his time - an extremely hard worker when he *does* have a project, it's just the finding of the project that's troublesome. Again, I can relate.
He's actually pretty easy to envy in terms of his talents and wide-range of interests, namely his writing ability. Before the whole landscape architecture thing, I was surprised to learn that Olmsted wrote a series of essays for the Times about the American South; he traveled all over, making observations and writing them down, with some excellent analysis. I don't believe I've ever read anything about the pre-Civil War south that was considered "even-keel;" in terms of, I've read some pretty racist shit and I've read passionate, abolitionist works. Olmsted, however, is unique in that he originally believed in a slow freeing of slaves, and it was only through the encouragement of Charles Brace (creator of the Children's Aid Society and wtf I wish I knew these people), a staunch abolitionist, that he decided to travel to the South and write these essays. As Brace predicted, once he saw what was happening, as well as ran the numbers for how slavery actually didn't save people money and to stfu with your racist b.s., he did become more "radical" - if you can call anti-slavery "radical." Anyway, his southern travels were my favorite part of the book, not just because of interestingness of the details, but because I felt like his letters from the time show a lot of his personality - he's a bit sassier, kind of making fun of how backwards the south is, etc. He is surprised by the pro-slavery sentiments expressed by a southern gentlemen he considers a friend, and writes to Brace, "they do not seem to have a fundamental sense of right . . . their moving power and the only motives which they can comprehend are materialistic." He isn't quoted as quite so blunt for the rest of the book, and that quote in particular speaks to his realization that he was not dealing with reasonable, rational people - which his why his own reasonable, rational thoughts on the subject weren't, actually, practical.
Speaking of writing, both Olmsted's and Rybczynski's is spot-on, perfect. Olmsted should probably be considered a co-author, considering his keeping of pretty much every letter he's ever received/written, and the heavy amounts of quotations from said letters. One of my favorite passages discussed his depression:
"Suppose a man who sees things so far differently from the mass of ordinary healthy men is thereby classed as of defective vision, as of diseased men. Then I have not a doubt that I was born with a defect of the eye, with a defect of the brain."
In terms of Rybczynski's writing, I have a suspicion that he's a robot or something, as I don't think he recognizes grammar mistakes or colloquialisms as even remote possibilities - that has a bit to do with how the book can be a bit dry, but not all, which I'll get into in a minute.
Getting back to social justice: The most wonderful thing about Olmsted is his marrying of landscape/environment with social justice. The idea that parks were for everyone, that everyone needed space to breathe, and treating such an idea with utmost respect and solemnity is beautiful. It really made me take a breath and a moment to be grateful for people who, hundreds of years ago, made decisions that seemed so crazy and far-reaching at the time, but continue to benefit my generation. If anything, that's the main reason to read this - to appreciate those with The Big Ideas, and support them, even they seem nuts. I kind of feel like we don't have enough crazy ideas today; everyone is too afraid to try anything, and every idea gets shot down because it isn't perfect. Olmsted's life is a great example of simply trying something and effectively changing the way people thought about nature forever.
I think the reason the book slowed down so much for me near the end of the second third (if that makes sense) is because of the descriptions of those attempts. After Central Park and Prospect Park were finished (or rather, everything was set into motion enough that they weren't requiring front and center attention), Rybczynski talks endlessly of almost every single project Olmsted was involved in. It gets way, way too dry. The thing is, if Rybczynski had tied each project to some sort of landscape architecture revolution, that'd be fine. But there were a couple of projects where, after 10 pages of description of who asked him to do the job, his response, who he worked with, the design itself, etc., we find out that . . . he ended up not doing it or it was changed so utterly it isn't really Olmsted's any more. Ugh. It made me want to rip my hair out. Aside from that, I could've had slightly more background/context in general; for instance, I loved reading about the influence of Brown and how that changed Prospect Park's design so much from Central Park's. Often, I felt like Rybczynski was forgetting to describe *why* some of Olmsted's designs were unique in terms of the field at large - perhaps he did so subtly that, as someone with no experience/knowledge of the subject, I missed it, but I doubt it considering that when he did, I remember it well.
It's funny - everything that sticks out to me, everything that I'll remember about this book and Olmsted's life (and I'm now a huge fangirl), little of it has to do with landscape architecture. It's more his belief system that informed his practice, that informed all of his accomplishments, that's incredible to me, as well as just his general personality and unique set of talents and abilities. Basically: Olmsted the Man is amazing, regardless of the work he put out, though I suppose you can't have one without the other.
One last thing I loved: His relationship with his wife, Mary. I can't lie, I did a bit of an eyebrow raise that he married his dead brother's wife, but it seems like a match made in Heaven. The equality and mutual respect of that relationship is really great to read about, especially considering the time period. He clearly valued her opinions and took her advice; she clearly cared deeply for him. I could read an entire book of their letters between each other. Not only that, but his love of spending time with his kids and lamenting of how he can be too busy to do so, struck a chord as well. A very Modern Man. Again, just seems like a great guy who surrounded himself with equally great people.
January 19, 2023
read as a self help book, in a way -
this was pretty good in the beginning, but I lost interest by the point we got to a sequential detailing of all the different parks.
some takeaways:
- Olmsted had a privileged background, and a generous father that supported him both in spirit and in cold hard cash throughout him trying various ventures
- O was also very fickle in his youth in pursuing interests and education, but went after em pretty hard anyway -- a sailor (to China!), a merchant/business clerk, a farmer
- consistently engaged in political efforts (anti-slavery, becoming more extreme over time; created/head of sanitation committee), as well as literary magazines / newspapers. many of these efforts were not obvious (or even subtle) successes, but eventually enough of them built together to become something
- he also ran a gold mine for a bit. it was kind of a scam (but he didn't know that!)
- he was an excellent writer; he often wrote descriptions of gardens and landscapes that he'd seen through his travels
- camping for a bit was a way of living back then; he and Mary (and children!) went for frequent excursions to Yosemite and other places
what about his landscaping? why was it so good?
- very technically knowledged - drainage, soil, species, everything
- bold & visionary (maybe some help with his partner on this)
- artistically inspired (lots of travels, inspiration, studying?)
- kinda tyrannical in ensuring execution
how did he get so good?
- still not super clear, but small things that went okay led to bigger things that went a little better led to big big things that went down in history
- he was a workaholic
- some stuff he was very fast at
what about the actually landscaping?
- there are some plans included; there is no denying how good they are. central park is wild and beautiful. mountain view cemetery is a meditation.
anything else?
- amused by the descriptions of his jauntiness in his youth and his waylaid romantic endeavors; he ended up marrying his dead brother's widow.
- rybczynski is a pretty good writer!
this was pretty good in the beginning, but I lost interest by the point we got to a sequential detailing of all the different parks.
some takeaways:
- Olmsted had a privileged background, and a generous father that supported him both in spirit and in cold hard cash throughout him trying various ventures
- O was also very fickle in his youth in pursuing interests and education, but went after em pretty hard anyway -- a sailor (to China!), a merchant/business clerk, a farmer
- consistently engaged in political efforts (anti-slavery, becoming more extreme over time; created/head of sanitation committee), as well as literary magazines / newspapers. many of these efforts were not obvious (or even subtle) successes, but eventually enough of them built together to become something
- he also ran a gold mine for a bit. it was kind of a scam (but he didn't know that!)
- he was an excellent writer; he often wrote descriptions of gardens and landscapes that he'd seen through his travels
- camping for a bit was a way of living back then; he and Mary (and children!) went for frequent excursions to Yosemite and other places
what about his landscaping? why was it so good?
- very technically knowledged - drainage, soil, species, everything
- bold & visionary (maybe some help with his partner on this)
- artistically inspired (lots of travels, inspiration, studying?)
- kinda tyrannical in ensuring execution
how did he get so good?
- still not super clear, but small things that went okay led to bigger things that went a little better led to big big things that went down in history
- he was a workaholic
- some stuff he was very fast at
what about the actually landscaping?
- there are some plans included; there is no denying how good they are. central park is wild and beautiful. mountain view cemetery is a meditation.
anything else?
- amused by the descriptions of his jauntiness in his youth and his waylaid romantic endeavors; he ended up marrying his dead brother's widow.
- rybczynski is a pretty good writer!
April 17, 2024
Finally read this 25 year-old inspirational biography of Olmsted, and NOW I get it. Had to have the copy thrust in my hand... This reads like butter. You must read this, perhaps, like me - but not necessarily - in conjunction with the last book by the late Tony Horwitz, Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land. But Rybczynski makes the point: see the Olmsted landscapes.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
July 18, 2021
Written by an architect-author, this was a thorough, well-researched biography. While I'm glad I read it, I did find it a bit of a slog by about halfway through. The story-telling factor was a bit lost in the recitation of projects. Still, it was interesting and helpful in anticipation of touring the Biltmore and as a New York lover.
February 10, 2023
An outstanding book and is worthy of an outstanding individual.
February 20, 2024
this was fine
June 14, 2016
Olmsted turns out to be a fascinating man, with aspects to his character I had never heard of. I would give this a five except that the information about the people Olmsted worked with, and about details of various parks may be too detailed for the casual reader such as myself. I gained an understanding from this book, perhaps not be quite what the author intended but highly valuable, something I hope I will become part of my awareness: I now find that I am looking at landscaping and parks with a new appreciation, realizing that what looks so “natural” is often art. And I have a sense of the effort and time it takes to create these.
Addtionally, the book fills in an area about the early controversy over slavery, with Olmsted’s efforts to educate the public about its evils, showing that it was both morally repugnant and economically inefficient. Olmsted’s vision saw far beyond his time.
Addtionally, the book fills in an area about the early controversy over slavery, with Olmsted’s efforts to educate the public about its evils, showing that it was both morally repugnant and economically inefficient. Olmsted’s vision saw far beyond his time.
September 2, 2016
Reading this book established Frederick Law Olmsted as one of my favorite design heroes. Historical. Moving. I loved this book.
October 15, 2016
Loved this book about Frederick Law Olmsted. I don't remember the layout of Central Park in NYC very well, since it's been many years since I wandered through there, but that's his design.
August 5, 2020
Frederick Law Olmsted led an incredible life. Born in 1822, he apprenticed as a surveyor, spent many years as a farmer, was a frequently-published writer of newspaper and magazine articles as well as several books highly critical of the society that existed in the deep south before the outbreak of the Civil War. He was involved in the Sanitary Commission during the war, doing much to lessen the pain and suffering of Union soldiers wounded in battle. And, of course, he was one of the first Americans to work as a landscape architect, shaping and planting public and private grounds all across the United States (and also in Montreal). He had very intense beliefs regarding urban and suburban living and the civilizing and healing powers of public places. He had an extraordinary ability to envision what a creation of his would look like decades after it had first been planned out and he also anticipated the rapid growth of America's urban places. He seems to have been a very prolific correspondent with friends, family and clients and potential clients, and he was a pack rat, so much of that correspondence has been preserved.
I spent 18 years living within a ten-minute walk of Central Park, and I've spent thousands of hours there, bicycling, walking, jogging, playing frisbee and people watching. I've spent time in Prospect Park in the same activities. Those parks are invaluable civic assets for Manhattan and Brooklyn, and both were created by Olmsted in collaboration with Calvert Vaux, Olmsted's first business partner. Those two projects get a lot of coverage in this book, but so do many others, including Olmsted's work at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, his projects in Buffalo and in Boston and some of his work out west at Mountain View Cemetery and Stanford University. This book covers Olmsted's projects as well as his relationships with various artists, architects, business men and politicians and also has much material devoted to his relationships with his wife and children.
I have little to criticize here, but I will say that books that deal with artists should include at least some color illustrations. Be that as it may, this was a highly entertaining and engaging read.
I spent 18 years living within a ten-minute walk of Central Park, and I've spent thousands of hours there, bicycling, walking, jogging, playing frisbee and people watching. I've spent time in Prospect Park in the same activities. Those parks are invaluable civic assets for Manhattan and Brooklyn, and both were created by Olmsted in collaboration with Calvert Vaux, Olmsted's first business partner. Those two projects get a lot of coverage in this book, but so do many others, including Olmsted's work at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, his projects in Buffalo and in Boston and some of his work out west at Mountain View Cemetery and Stanford University. This book covers Olmsted's projects as well as his relationships with various artists, architects, business men and politicians and also has much material devoted to his relationships with his wife and children.
I have little to criticize here, but I will say that books that deal with artists should include at least some color illustrations. Be that as it may, this was a highly entertaining and engaging read.
June 11, 2017
Well last Sunday in reading the email I get from The New Yorker on weekends was an old article by Adam Gopnik (I see now it was 1997) about Frederick Law Olmsted and the making of Central Park in NYC. He said that Olmsted was friends with U. S. Grant and I knew that John Fremont had promoted Grant in Missouri during the Civil War. Well I also see that Olmsted managed the Mariposa (which was Fremont's land in California and where he was one of the few to mine gold on his own land---there were no mineral rights at that time so all of those 49ers could mine wherever they wanted). I then recalled that I had read a book about Olmsted by another favored author, Witold Rybczynski, in 1999 and which I own. When I started reading in it, I decided it was worth another read. All of these 19th century people knew each other! A Clearing in the Distance is a nice book. It is as comforting to read as an Olmsted landscape. I didn't remember that he had melancholy and depression and ended up with Alzheimer's but Gopnik brought that out in his article. Gopnik also focused on the fact that Olmsted was a journalist and author before he was a landscape architect. He went through the southern states before the war and went with an open mind but after spending nearly a year travelling around, he began to oppose slavery strongly. The book that came out of his articles is one of the better studies on what life in the south was like during slavery. Olmsted felt that southerners did not have a high culture as they proclaimed because slavery brought the whole society down. He visits a friend from Harvard who is a plantation owner and ends up writing another friend saying "They do not seem to have a fundamental sense of right...their moving power and the only motives which they can comprehend are materialistic." Nothing much changes.
June 21, 2017
Rybczynski's flowing, natural writing style suits his subject: the man who made landscape architecture both an art and a profession. I first became aware of Olmsted many years ago as the journalist author of a book summarizing his tour of the slave states in the 1850s. Then I learned he was the co-designer of New York's Central Park. And then that he designed many more public spaces in the U.S. He did much more as well, all without benefit of a college education. He seems to have been a natural organizing talent; a strong-willed and immensely energetic character; and a model of modest, although farsighted and often grandly scaled, good taste.
This biography moves briskly through Olmsted's astonishingly varied life and achievements, without ever seeming rushed. A few chapters end quite oddly with a couple of pages based on available evidence but filled out with surmises and written like fiction; these sections have an odd ring and one wonders what Olmsted would have thought of their intrusion into the story.
This biography moves briskly through Olmsted's astonishingly varied life and achievements, without ever seeming rushed. A few chapters end quite oddly with a couple of pages based on available evidence but filled out with surmises and written like fiction; these sections have an odd ring and one wonders what Olmsted would have thought of their intrusion into the story.
January 5, 2020
I really liked Rybczinsky's book about Frederick Law Olmsted. It helped that, even though I was a history major in college, I knew nothing about Olmsted besides his association with New York's central park. The book is well written as far as a biography goes but I also enjoyed the short 2-4 page snippets Rybczynski included in a first person fictional (but based on real people and events) perspective. Many historian's may not appreciate an author putting himself into the mind of their subject. I must confess, one reason I hate watching figure skating, is because the announcers keep stating what the skaters must be thinking. Regardless, Rybczyinsky didn't overdue this nuance.
What I liked best about the story was learning more about landscape architecture and the many things that Olmsted was involved in over his career including, Stanford, Chicago's water front, Biltmore, and many others (I don't want to spoil it all).
What I liked best about the story was learning more about landscape architecture and the many things that Olmsted was involved in over his career including, Stanford, Chicago's water front, Biltmore, and many others (I don't want to spoil it all).
February 4, 2019
Olmsted was quite an interesting fellow; a Renaissance man who eventually found his niche in landscape architecture and left his imprint all over America -- from Central Park and Prospect Park in NY to the Biltmore Estate in NC, and Berkeley and Stanford campuses, to name a mere few.
Rybczynski is obviously a great fan and fills this book DENSELY with details. I can't imagine there's a single resource he did not reference. Rybczynski plays with writing styles, sometimes just presenting facts, other times surmising in the writing what he assumes to be Olmsted's reasoning for an action, and other times writing a letter from the perspective of one of the players. Did I mention it's dense? Not unreadable, just more facts than you may care to know. And yet, Olmstead's an interesting person to know about.
Rybczynski is obviously a great fan and fills this book DENSELY with details. I can't imagine there's a single resource he did not reference. Rybczynski plays with writing styles, sometimes just presenting facts, other times surmising in the writing what he assumes to be Olmsted's reasoning for an action, and other times writing a letter from the perspective of one of the players. Did I mention it's dense? Not unreadable, just more facts than you may care to know. And yet, Olmstead's an interesting person to know about.
November 28, 2020
As an Elder who is a retired real estate developer, it gave me precious insights into how to give structure to urban planning by starting with an overview of the area and then evolving transportation, living areas, etc. Also as a mentor, gave credence to the idea that you don't just need credentials, but innate sense of place and purpose while living in your community. We should all care about how we include everyone including the natural habitat and ecological system.
Relationships were very important in his career and with transportation and communication so difficult, it is just amazing how many people he connected with and through sharing on a basic level got everyone to educate and learn from. His secret sauce was simple, yet effective. Thank you Witold for honestly introducing us to his evolution and work.
Relationships were very important in his career and with transportation and communication so difficult, it is just amazing how many people he connected with and through sharing on a basic level got everyone to educate and learn from. His secret sauce was simple, yet effective. Thank you Witold for honestly introducing us to his evolution and work.
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August 22, 2019Frederick Law Olmsted basically created the profession of landscape architecture, finally finding for himself a profession where he could thrive. His vision was remarkable — he designed parks throughout North America that provide rest and relaxation for millions of people today. He looked far ahead, not focusing on what something was in the present, but what it would become forty years down the road. Of all the parks he designed, I’ve only visited one: Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada. I hope to visit many more, especially Central Park.
One of my favorite proverbs, one that could be said of Olmsted literally— and one I hope to live by metaphorically — goes as follows:
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.”
One of my favorite proverbs, one that could be said of Olmsted literally— and one I hope to live by metaphorically — goes as follows:
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.”
February 21, 2021
It is very difficult to find a well written nonfiction book and this is no exception. Luckily FL Olmsted was a pretty interesting character and did a lot of interesting things-
he was as best known until mid 20th century for his reporting on the South for the predecessor to The NY Times in the 1850’s ( one of the more interesting things: German settlers in West Texas who were passionate Free Soilers and Olmsted observation on the contrast of their vibrant civic society and economies compared to the backward and inefficient slave plantation economy.
Unfortunately describing someone being an efficient administrator by definition is really boring, as well as talking about someone’s artistic sensibility.
he was as best known until mid 20th century for his reporting on the South for the predecessor to The NY Times in the 1850’s ( one of the more interesting things: German settlers in West Texas who were passionate Free Soilers and Olmsted observation on the contrast of their vibrant civic society and economies compared to the backward and inefficient slave plantation economy.
Unfortunately describing someone being an efficient administrator by definition is really boring, as well as talking about someone’s artistic sensibility.
December 31, 2022
Frederick Law Olmstead's influence on the appearance and quality of life of North American cities is deep and wide. This fascinating and loving biography shows how this came to be, and also provides details about his earlier life and exploits, including his time as a farmer, a roving correspondent in the pre-Civil War American south, and a publisher. His close friendship and collaboration with the architect H.H. Richardson is chronicled in detail. I was surprised to learn that his fame and reputation had diminished during the early twentieth century, until being revived by Lewis Mumford's book The Brown Decades in the 1930's and a biography in the 1970's. A colossal figure of American history who deserves this large and varied book.
July 29, 2020
A wonderfully readable and well-researched tribute to the the creator of the occupation of landscape architect. Frederick Law Olmsted was a man who turned his love of trees into a career that took him all over the United States and into Canada, designing spaces we enjoy today.
Far from instantly successful, Olmsted struggled as a young man trying to find his path, even spending time as a seaman — who knew? This book is richly filled with anecdotes and vignettes of Olmsted’s personal, professional and familial alliances, most successful, but not all. Well illustrated with both photographs and drawings.
Far from instantly successful, Olmsted struggled as a young man trying to find his path, even spending time as a seaman — who knew? This book is richly filled with anecdotes and vignettes of Olmsted’s personal, professional and familial alliances, most successful, but not all. Well illustrated with both photographs and drawings.
September 21, 2018
I absolutely loved this book! Bear with me a little bit. I read Devil in the White City, about the World's Fair in Chicago. In that book, they chronicled how Frederick Law Olmsted located the World's Fair on a plot of ground and then proceeded to develop it with other designers and architects for the Fair. Once I read that, I wanted to read more about Olmsted. I found this book, which told his story, and what a story it was! This man was self-taught, a hard worker, and lived through so many great adventures, and knew so many people, that his story simply resonated with me. A great read!
May 1, 2019
Expert combination of biography and history by one genius writing about another. Olmsted was much more than a landscape architect. When you see the lengthy list of "selected" projects, many of them monumental in scale and prestigious, you don't realize that he did have setbacks and some rejections of his plans. Olmsted took the long view, stating: "I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future."
Another example of his foresight: "He understood that Americans were simply not willing to make the sort of long-term public investments required by city planning." (p. 344) Infrastructure, anyone?
Another example of his foresight: "He understood that Americans were simply not willing to make the sort of long-term public investments required by city planning." (p. 344) Infrastructure, anyone?
January 30, 2020
An excellent read if you have an interest in Frederick LO and/or landscape architecture. His talents were many, his body of work impressive and his career path quite unusual. His particular brand of landscape architecture combined artistry, city planning, urban management, public education and public health. Lucky for us one of his distinguishing characteristics was his practice of taking the long view. As a result places like Central Park still function as intended as the peoples' park for "unconscious recreation."
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