Andrew Jackson Downing

Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine (1846–52). Many scholars consider Downing to be "The Father of American Landscape Architecture." Downing was born in Newburgh, New York, United States, to Samuel Downing (a nurseryman and wheelwright) and Becky Crandall. After finishing his schooling at 16, he worked in his father's nursery in the Town of Newburgh, and gradually became interested in landscape gardening and architecture. He began writing on botany and landscape gardening and then undertook to educate himself thoroughly in these...