This study offers a close reading of Virgil's Eclogues with a focus both on how it conveys the concept of gardens and the bucolic landscape, and how classical Roman painting and literature
influenced the poet's vision. Jones (U. of Liverpool, the UK) mines the work completely, revealing the wealth of references it contains to Roman cities and landscapes, individuals (including
Virgil himself), mythical figures, descriptions of geographic features, and human constructions on the landscape. The volume concludes with a lengthy chapter defining the nature, appearance,
and relationship to reality of the bucolic world--what Jones calls the Eclogue-land--that Virgil represents. An unusually thoughtful and thorough monograph, this volume is a welcome addition to
Virgilian scholarship. Distributed by International Publishers Marketing. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
