Tag Archives: Fairies

Having experienced this long hot summer we can be forgiven for developing a sense of nostalgia for times past, when summers were generally more temperate and pleasant and trees and plants could flourish instead of scorching in the unrelenting heat. We have therefore searched out depictions of summer from nineteenth- and early -twentieth-century books in our collections and present a selection here as a tribute to our summers of old.

We begin with the pages for the summer months from several charming little almanacks by the celebrated children’s illustrator Kate Greenaway (1846-1901). Her tiny almanacks, measuring around 11cm tall, were published every year (bar one) between 1883 and 1897. Each has beautiful colour illustrations representing each season alongside illustrated calendar pages for the months of the year. A copy of the very first almanack produced in this series (pictured below) is held in the Rylands Collection. This little book was incredibly popular, selling 90,000 copies across Europe and America. The illustrations were printed first and then text was added in English, German or French as required. The Library also holds copies of the 1885 and 1887 editions, images from which also appear below.

 

 

 

 

 

A number of books in the Rylands Collection celebrate the seasons with a mixture of botanical information and poetic description. Below are the pages for June, July and August from The Garland of the Year, illustrated by artist and amateur botanist Frederick Edward Hulme (1841-1909). Some of the poems included in this book are, in contrast to the vibrant flower illustrations, a touch melancholic, especially the one for June which speaks of the withering of daisies as mirroring the eventual fate of all humanity!

A similar volume, The Songs of the Seasons and Wild Flowers of the Months, provides further colourful depictions of the flowers which flourish in the summertime.

The cover of Voices of the Garden, the Woods and the Fields, or, The Teachings of Nature as Seasons Change is decorated with little figures representing each season, the one for summer being a boy sleeping amongst foliage. The internal illustration provides a bucolic image of harvest time and cattle wading in a stream.

The artist Walter Crane (1845-1915) was a significant figure in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth century. Between 1886 and 1906 he produced  a series of fantastical flower-themed books with glorious colour illustrations. In the first of these, Flora’s Feast: A Masque of Flowers, published in 1889, Crane presents a troop of floral figures who have been awakened by their Queen and who process through the year accompanied by a rhyming commentary. The figures representing the summer months are pictured below.

The Boy’s Summer Book describes the activities and escapades of a group of schoolboys during their summer holidays. Girls, presumably, were expected to confine themselves to more domestic pursuits. The illustrations below show the boys participating in cricket matches and boating excursions, helping with the harvest and washing sheep in the river.

Trips to the coast are another traditional summer activity, holding out the promise of  fresh sea air and fun on the beach. The book At Home includes two quite wistful seaside-themed poems which are accompanied by delicate and evocative illustrations by the artist John George Sowerby (1849-1914).

Robert Louis Stevenson included a short seaside poem in his collection entitled A Child’s Garden of Verses, which is illustrated by Charles Robinson (1870-1937). The style is quite different to Sowerby’s above, but equally attractive. This was the first entire book Robinson illustrated and its huge popularity significantly boosted his career.

In the poem “Bed in Summer” a child bemoans the fact that they must go to bed whilst it is still light outside and adults are still going about their day, a perennial complaint. Another poem forms an ode to the sun during this season.

Charles Robinson came from a very artistic family. His brother, William Heath Robinson (1872-1944), became famous for his illustrations of weird and wonderful contraptions intended to automate everyday tasks in convoluted ways. More relevant to our theme, Heath Robinson also illustrated a 1914 edition of Shakespeare’s  A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A selection of these gorgeous illustrations brings this post to a conclusion. We hope you have enjoyed this saunter through summers long ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AC

References and further reading:

Isobel Spencer, Walter Crane, London: Studio Vista, 1975

M.H. Spielman and G.S. Layard, The Life and Work of Kate Greenaway,  London: Bracken Books, 1986