Mrs C. W. Earle (1836–1925) was born into the minor aristocracy as Maria Theresa Villiers. After training as an artist, she married Captain C. W. Earle, who inherited family wealth which enabled a comfortable lifestyle with a town house in London and a small property with a large garden in Surrey. Earle's designs for her garden were much admired by her circle, and she was encouraged to write down her gardening advice. She published three volumes of Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden (also reissued in this series) between 1897 and 1903, but these works were not restricted to gardening, and contained thoughts on travel and art, and also on the importance of diet to health. Published in 1911, these reminiscences are dedicated to her grandchildren, and contain her parents' history as well as her own memories of a privileged upbringing among the literary and artistic giants of mid-Victorian England.