"I stepped upon the land of my forefathers - but felt than I was a stranger in the land." "With these words, Washington Irving expresses the dilemma of every American artist in the nineteenth century. The Sketch Book (1820-1) looks simultaneously towards audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, as Irving explores the uneasy relationship of an American writer to English literary traditions. He sketches a series of encounters with the cultural shrines...

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children's bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear.

Landscape photography has traveled far from its origins in the picturesque or pastoral. It is at the cutting edge of contemporary image-making with leading photographers creating work that transcends definitions of art or documentary. This is the first truly international survey of a vibrant, burgeoning field of photography, its masterful image-makers, and their work. William A. Ewing has selected more than 230 photographs by over 100 photographers,...

Throughout history great gardeners have risen from all walks of life. What they all have in common is the ability to take an idea and develop it in a new manner relevant to their times. The book is divided into several sections. 'Gardens of Ideas' moves from the politically allusive gardens of 18th-century England made by men such as William Kent, to Charles Jencks' Scottish garden inspired by 21st-century cosmography. 'Gardens of Straight Lines'...