Frederick Law Olmsted

A superb visual overview of the major public parks designed by the foremost landscape architect in American history.

Winner, John Brinkerhoff Jackson Book Prize, Foundation for Landscape Architecture, FY16

Lavishly illustrated with over 470 images—129 of them in color—this book reveals Frederick Law Olmsted's design concepts for more than seventy public park projects through a rich collection of sketches, studies, lithographs, paintings, historical photographs, and comprehensive descriptions. Bringing together Olmsted's most significant parks, parkways, park systems, and scenic reservations, this gorgeous volume takes readers on a uniquely conceived tour of such notable landscapes as Central Park, Prospect Park, the Buffalo Park and Parkway System, Washington Park and Jackson Park in Chicago, Boston's "Emerald Necklace," and Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. No such guide to Olmsted's parks has ever been published.

Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) planned many parks and park systems across the United States, leaving an enduring legacy of designed public space that is enjoyed and defended today. His public parks, the design of which he was most proud, have had a lasting effect on urban America.

This gorgeous book will appeal to landscape professionals, park administrators, historians, architects, city planners, and students—and it is a perfect gift for Olmsted aficionados throughout North America.