The Cottage Book: The Undiscovered Country Diary of an Edwardian Statesman - Softcover

Grey, Sir Edward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0297607529 ISBN 13: 9780297607526

Publisher: Orion Publishing, 2001

Synopsis

The great Edwardian statesman Sir Edward Grey was a passionate naturalist, and co-founder of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Between 1895 and 1905 he made detailed nature notes at his cottage by a trout stream near Itchen Abbas in Hampshire. The text of his "Cottage Book" forms the basis for this beautiful book, alongside dozens of specially commissioned watercolours, contemporary photographs and woodcuts, and maps.

About this title

From the Publisher

This classic country diary was begun in 1895 by Sir Edward Grey and his wife Dorothy, who faithfully recorded the flora and fauna of their beloved Hampshire cottage. They wrote about what pleased them—the emergence of the leaves on the beech trees; the reappearance of a favorite flower; the song of the nightingale—and their shared enthusiasm shines through their prose. The diary ends with the death of Dorothy in 1906; in 1909, Edward Grey’s Cottage Book was privately printed for a small group of friends as a testament to the happiness he found with his wife. Only twenty copies were produced, and it remained virtually unknown until recently. This publication, nearly a century later, is filled with period postcards, original etchings, and watercolors of the flora and fauna that this couple so lovingly observed. Edited and introduced by Edward Waterhouse

About the Author

Sir Edward Grey (1862-1933), 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, was Home Secretary between 1905 and 1916. In 1914 he said: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.'

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion Publishing
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297607529
• ISBN 13: 9780297607526
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Waterhouse Michael