Thursday, 3 January 2013

"The Floral Birthday Book printed by E Evans



Today, whilst sorting through paperwork, I came across a little green and gold hardback'd book. It looked quite old, the pages were worn and turned at the edges. I opened it to look inside, I did not recognise the font but the book was full of poems and beautiful illustrations of hedgerow flowers on each page. The front cover was divided into four sections by a gold line connecting to an oval shape in the centre with yellow wording which read; "The Floral Birthday Book," at each corner section there was a picture of a wild flower. 
                                          
                                                                                                                                                            
The book was small three inches wide by four inches long and small enough to slip into a pocket. When I held it in my hand I wanted to hold onto it but it felt fragile and well used. As I opened it I found there were no dates of when it had been written. Between the first three pages parchment paper was inserted between two full page illustrations. On the fifth page I found "Flowers and their Emblems", with appropriate selections from the poets with 368 Illustrations. On following pages, I read  the names of each poet and on the following page their poems. The edges of each page were red and I felt I wanted to wear gloves so as not to damage the paper. On each page there were three sets of poems and three sets illustrations. The next page was blank but it had been divided into three individual spaces. Two section on this particular page had names yet other sections within the book were blank. I found the name of W Foster on one of the illustrations and then noticed that the little book had been printed by Edmund Evans.

My curiosity took me  online to see if I could find any history on this little book. To my delight I found a similar book but it wasn't as pretty as mine. The book online was covered in brown cloth with a gilt tool edging and yellow pages inside. It is believed to have been written in 1876 and this one like mine had no inscriptions on it which made it the original. Printed by Edmund Evans.

Has anyone come across a similar book to this one?





6 comments:

  1. What a fantastic find. I hope you can find out more information about it.

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    1. I hope I can too Sally. Its a lovely little book with good vibes connected to it. I doubt I'll be keeping it and pass it down through the family. Thanks for popping by with your comment, very much appreciated.. Jenni x

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  2. Lucky you! I wish I could find something as gorgeous as that little book when I was tidying up. It looks really lovely!

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    1. Thank you Denise,
      There are times when your given presents and somehow through the years you mislay them. However this little book just kept on appearing over the years, every now and then - when I least expected it to.. I always thought it was Victorian but had no idea it could be so old..

      Thanks for popping by with your lovely comment. Jenni x

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  3. Hi Jenni - I don't know if you got as far as the Wikipedia page for Edmund Evans .. but it makes FASCINATING reading:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Evans

    Enjoy - talented chap .. and your book must be star turn ..

    Cheers and Happy New Year - Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary - Thank you for the advice and the link, I must say I have found it all most intriguing. Edmund Evans sound very interesting, I would like to find out more, I'd certainly love to know when my little book was printed.

      Lovely to hear from you. Best wishes and Happy New Year to you too! Jenni x

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