Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady (1905)

Great item. Absolutely love it

===Cost===Book is price marked as £15.95.===The Book===This book of Nature Notes by Edith Holden is a predecesor to the popular Edwardian Ladie's Diary.This is a hardback book with an image of robin and blackbird on the front cover while there is an image of Edith Holden on the back of the dustjacket. Underneath the book's covers are dark green.Edith was a native of the Midlands but also visited Devon and this collection is made up of anecdotes, poems and images of nature.Unlike the Diary this was just left as rough notes so a lot of the book is the notes typed out, however it is faithful to Edith's spellings and punctuation.Numerous watercolour paintings are included, done by Edith of flowers, butterflies, birds and various wild life.First published in 1989, the text and drawings are copyright of Rowena Stott, Edith's great niece. There is also thanks given to Nancy White, the custodian of the diary for many years and her father in law Ernest White who bought and cherished it until his death in 1959.Edith Holden lived at Woodside, Knowle in Warwichshire.The book is divided into monthly sections with each one having anecdotes and nature notes about things relevant to that month, also with some lines of relevant poety in places. Alongside these notes are amazing water colours done by Edith – most covering full pages.JanuaryCovers 12 pages including 4 full colour pages of illustrations.FebruaryCovers 8 pages including 4 full page illustrations.MarchCovers 9 pages including 4 full pages of illustrations.AprilCovers 23 pages including 12 full pages of illustrations.May25 pages including 14 full pages of illustrations.June26 pages including 12 full pages of illustrations.July15 pages including 8 full pages of illustrationsAugust8 pages including 4 of illustrations.September14 pages including 6 of illustrations.October19 pages including 10 of illustrations.November12 pages including 6 of illustrations.December16 pages including 8 of illustrations.Edith Holden was born in 1871 in Mosley and later lived in Knowle. In 1905 she moved to Olton where she wrote her nature notes.Edith attended Art School and later married, though she had no children. Sadly she drowned in 1920 at Kew aged just 49 whilst attempting to collect chesnut buds.===My Thoughts===I Fell in love with Edith Holden's work when her Diary came out in the 1970s. Both the Diary and these Nature Notes follow the same format. They are beautifully laid out on cream paper which is aged and tinted around the edges. The Dairy is written out in Edith's own hand but some of this Companion has been typed as it was left unfinished – though it does not ruin the book at all.Each month you get snippits of folk lore and nature observations and some bits of poems as well. To me the greatest delight of these books are the amazingly realistic wqater colour images that fill the book. Some are done just part of the page but most fill a whole page with maybe just the plant or animal's name written in. A few illustrations are in sepia but most are in glorious full colour. Some of the illustrations even extend over two pages.At the beginning of each month is an apt illustration with the name of the month written large.I just love the aged nature of the paper which really compliments the illustrations.These paintings can be appreciated by anyone, whether you have an intimate knowledge of plants and animals or not.This is the sort of book you can dip into and just read a page here and there. The text is interesting but it is the beautiful paintings I love the most. Edith did not confine herself to just doing flowers but covered a wide array of natural subjects such as berries, grasses, fungi, birds, nests, eggs, rabbits, sheep, butterflies, snakes, bees, lizards, dragonflies, and squirrels.I just love the ones with bluebells and bird's nests and glorious poppies. But also the many ones with flowers and butterflies are equally delightful.These days these books can be picked up really cheaply on Amazon – currently selling for under £2.50 delivered.So now is definitely the time to pick up a copy if you missed it when first released.Having almost 100 full colour page illustrations these books do lend themselves to other uses as well. I have bought an extra old copy and used it to decoupage a desk and cupboard where I can admire the beautiful pictures every day.

This Book i s "Endearing Love for Nature", endless in the many diversedescriptions of Nature's moods at different times of the day andthrough all the Seasons of the Year...made visible through the manybeautiful illustrations, sensitively and exquisitely executed...such a joy for the soul...

Excellent condition. Arrived in good time.

Not what i thought it was but a lovely book that one can delve in to. doesnt have to be read cover to cover. beautiful drawings. only problem was the stains on the side. like something splashed on it, yukky looking stains and a bit smellyt like its been sitting in a damp cellar. if i find a better copy i will replace it, till then ill keep this one. definitely worth having around if you are getting into nature journaling, could help you start off perhaps, give you ideas.

Love this book its besutiful and came i great condition.

The illustrations are good as Edith Holden was a trained artist. The information is useful in places, but a bit bland. It is surprisingly quite a pleasant book, considering how we all became fed up with this in the 1970s as it appeared everywhere, even on mugs and teacups!

Interesting looking back through an old journal and seeing what changes have taken place seasonally and environmentally. Lovely illustrations. Laid out as a journal.