The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

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In 1911 Edith Holden, at the age of thirty-nine, married Ernest Smith, a sculptor, seven years her junior. [2] Smith became principal assistant to Countess Feodora Gleichen. At the Countess's studio in St James Palace the Smiths associated with leading artists such as Sir George Frampton, sculptor of the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and royal visitors such as King Faisal of Arabia. Edith continued her career as an illustrator; the couple had no children. Her sister Evelyn was supposedly an even more talented artist. Edith preferred illustrating animals. I would enjoy seeing their training and work in context with other people during the day. Beatrix Potter was a contemporary, but no contemporary comparison is provided. If nothing else, this book was a reminder to move at a slower pace and appreciate what is right in front of you. Take a walk by your home and see what you have missed, ride a bicycle and wave to your neighbors neighbours or visit a park and observe nature in all its glory. In conjunction with the idea of a Nature tab le or small dedicated space, this book makes a memorable gift for you and for others. Read full review A number of her illustrations have since been used on tie-in products, from books such as Country Diary Recipes to cookware, stationery and ornaments.

Before the death of Edith's mother Emma in 1904, the Holden family had become Spiritualists. The Holdens held regular Spiritualist seances at home in Olton, with the intention of communicating with the spirit of their deceased wife and mother. Edith and her four sisters were instrumental in assisting their father with these communications, which culminated in 1913, when Edith's father published them in his own diary, entitled Messages from the Unseen, only weeks before his own death. Rowan is mountain ash! I've often read about rowan but never thought to look it up. The branch EH drew could easily have been from my tree. Collecting flowers from a riverbank at Kew Gardens, she drowned in the Thames in 1920. [1] Life [ edit ]

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I first got Edith (Holden) Smith’s The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, asa gift, and then later found this biography to compliment the diary. It’s inspired me to create my own country diary of the animals and flora of the place where I live. Every month I read the month that it is, in her diary which is organized by months. I’m currently up to June. It is promised that in The Edwardian Lady, Taylor has ‘established this fascinating story with the inclusion of a previously hidden chapter’ of Edith’s. In this, her first biography, Taylor follows the trajectory of Holden’s life, from her childhood in the West Midlands, to London. Like the format of Ms. Holden's diary, I did not feel rushed. I enjoyed reading her notes from 1906 at random times. Beginning with January, she quoted poetry from her favorite favourite authors. Also, she painted beautiful watercolors watercolours with warm browns, cool blues, muted greens and rich tints of purple. Then, with no rhyme or reason, she opened her 'room with a view' and shared with the reader the happenstances of a particular day. Sometimes it was just a sentence; at other times she included a paragraph. She wrote about the weather, what she witnessed while out on her walks or, simply, she just expressed her feelings.

Edith was born in 1871; she and her two younger sisters, who were also very talented, studied at the prestigious Birmingham School of Art, and were encouraged to follow their interests as much as was possible. For Edith, the choice to study the natural world in her art specialisation was ‘obvious’. July 21: I went a mile out of my way, down a narrow lane, to search for the spreading Campanula, where it used to grow years ago, but all trace of it had disappeared." November 19: All the way along, the leaves were whirling down from the trees in hundreds and dancing along the road before me." August, watercolor of "Thrush feeding on the berries of the Rowan or Mountain Ash (Pyrus aucuparia)." Book Genre: Art, Autobiography, Biography, British Literature, Classics, Environment, European Literature, Gardening, History, Horticulture, Memoir, Nature, Nonfiction, PoetryOne sad thing to note here is that Holden’s book was written over a century ago. I noticed that some of the species which she talks about as being common – birds, butterflies, and flowers – are things which I have never seen anywhere in Britain. Her paintings were exhibited by the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (1890–1907), and by the Royal Academy of Arts in 1907 and 1917. I like this for the animal and flower illustrations, post cards, and stories of life in the early 1900’s of Edith’s documented life, but not necessarily of most womens’ experiences, just hers. Her whole biography is not complete and although written in bits and pieces of known facts, we must remember that she lived a life with all needs met. Crowds of birds came to be fed this morning. There were great battles among the tits over the cocoa-nut, and once a robin got right into it and refused to let the Tits approach, until he had had all he wanted. I don't think the robins really care for cocoa-nut; but they don't like to see the tits enjoying anything, without claiming a share. Most appropriate for a naturalist or gardener from England. Many of the plant names I recognized, but others left me wondering if they might be plants I know by other names. I preferred the entries that included something more than simply a listing.