Marie-Antoinette's Garden : An Eighteenth-Century Herbarium

A horticultural tour of Marie-Antoinette's domain, the lavishly constructed gardens at Versailles, accompanied by eighteenth-century botanical watercolors from Pierre-Joseph Redouté and his contemporaries.

Plants, flowers, and trees were Marie-Antoinette’s passion; she transformed the Petit Trianon’s gardens into an enchanted refuge from the oppressive shackles of Versailles. Based on archival documents, this book meanders through Marie-Antoinette’s estate as the queen herself would have walked it: traversing hyacinths, buttercups, and anemones in the French Gardens, via winding paths in the Anglo-Chinese Gardens, through the conifers of the Belvedere Gardens where fabulous nocturnal parties were hosted, past the entrancing aromas of the shrubs surrounding the Temple of Love, to the wildflowers of the Garden of Solitude. This fascinating reconstruction, which plunges the reader into the eighteenth century, includes descriptions of the cosmetic and medicinal uses of the garden’s plants, anecdotes from the royal court, and watercolors of the herbarium. Élisabeth de Feydeau, a fragrance specialist, advises luxury brands including Jean Paul Gaultier, Chanel, and Guerlain. She wrote The Story of Perfume: A Lavishly Illustrated Guide and A Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette's Perfumer.

Alain Baraton, head gardener of the park at Versailles since 1982, is a best-selling author and host of gardening programs on French radio and television.