The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born in Paris, 1613. Died there, 1700. Aged 87.] The designer of the magnificent gardens at Versailles; the projector of its grand fountains, grottos, porticos, and bowers. He also laid out the gardens of St. Cloud, the Tuileries, Meudon, and several others. Louis XIV. heaped favours upon this great gardener, but Le Nôtre could not be spoiled by royal indulgence. He travelled into Italy and was received by Pope Innocent XI. “I care not how soon I die now,” said Le Nôtre to the Pope, “since I have seen the two greatest potentates in the world--your Holiness and the King, my master.” Le Nôtre was simple, honest, and disinterested: possessed a fertile genius and lively imagination; in many respects the prototype of our own Paxton. [From the marble in the Louvre, by Gourdel, which was taken from the one in the Church of St. Roch.]