

When John Ruskin disparaged the Crystal Palace as 'a great cucumber frame', he hit upon a truism. Representing the zenith of Victorian glasshouses, the Crystal Palace epitomized a building type that had been developed by horticulturists and garden specialists on a sophisticated...


This is a comprehensive survey of glasshouses. The book traces the evolution of glass enclosures from the mid 16th-century, when the desire to nuture exotic plants in often hostile climates led to the development of the glasshouse and the ingenious mechanical servicing systems,...