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Strongman Leggat collection

DescriptionAssociate Professor Jacky Bowring, Head of the School of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University speaking about the donation of the Strongman Leggat book collection which was given to the Library collection at Lincoln University. Text: A book collection – a personal library – is a powerful presence, an entity in its own right. The generous gift of the Strongman Leggat collection to the Lincoln University library brings with it this presence, a personality, a richness – and the legacy of Thelma Strongman’s contribution to garden history in New Zealand. With her books Gardens of Canterbury published in 1984, and City Beautiful which was a history of the Canterbury Beautifying Society, published in 1999, Thelma Strongman’s name is synonymous with garden history in our part of the world. And this was strengthened by Thelma’s connections to Lincoln University and the University of Canterbury, through teaching and researching.

Walter Benjamin wrote a memorable essay about the idea of a book collection, which he called Unpacking My Library. Benjamin wrote about how a book collection is a crafted whole, and carries with it its own images and memories. His title, Unpacking My Library, has been used for a couple of books – one that explores the collections of writers, and the other of architects. This latter one is the one I’m familiar with, where famous architects were interviewed about their collections – their libraries – and the significant tomes within. The book asked the question, what does the collecting of books have in common with the practice of architecture.

And beholding here the Strongman Leggat collection we might ask what this marvellous body of books has in common with the practice of gardening and garden history. Like all good gardens there is a strong structure, the anchor points are provided by writers like Geoffrey and Susan Jellicoe, Russell Page, Vincent Scully and Roy Strong, the heavy hitters of history and gardening. And weaving in and out of this are the intriguing works which provoke curiosity, and offer endless opportunities to wander through every-changing scenes – of cultivated flowers, garden walls, roses and cottage gardens.

And historically, the collection provides something of a whakapapa, a genealogy for the evolution of garden design, including the Australian Edna Walling, and the Englishwomen Vita Sackville-West, and Gertrude Jekyll to name a few. The Strongman Leggat collection is not only a wonderful resource in terms of history and geographical spread, it is also emphatically a New Zealand collection, even a Christchurch collection. Amongst the volumes are works on the Great Trees of New Zealand, Trevor Griffith’s book on roses for New Zealand, historic buildings of New Zealand, private gardens of New Zealand, and colour in a New Zealand garden. And to return to Walter Benjamin, he wrote that “of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method” and it is wonderful that one Thelma Strongman’s own works is included in the collection, with the volume on the Gardens of Riccarton House, reporting on their history 1843-1937.

A book collection, a library, is a potent legacy of a life’s work, of researching, thinking, exploring. And it is a great honour for Lincoln University to receive the donation of Strongman Leggat Collection – we are very grateful to the Strongman and Leggat families for making this possible. The collection adds a wealth of material to our fantastic library, where we are privileged to be so well resourced with material for research and study. The Strongman Leggat collection will be interwoven with the learning, investigation and exploration of the staff and students of landscape architecture and allied fields at Lincoln University. The collection will be part of our continuing to enrich the landscape around us as Thelma Strongman did through her work with the archives at the University of Canterbury, her lecturing and research, and her work on heritage landscapes including the Provincial Council buildings, and the Edmonds Factory Gardens here in Christchurch.PeopleJacky BowringPersonJacky BowringKeywordsThelma Strongmangarden historygarden designlandscapeLTL Launch 2013Jacky BowringItem Reference0001514FilenameStrongman Leggat collection

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Strongman Leggat collection