I had just finished a light read, A Memory Between Us, by Sarah Sundin, and have been slogging through The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, when the urge to spend some time in one of my gardening books came over me. I needed the tender words and love of gardening of a woman who lived in another time and another place but whose words were still relevant today and I was hungry for the beautiful paintings of one of the great Impressionists. Celia Thaxter and Childe Hassam were tucked into a beautiful book sleeve, sitting, quite nicely, on a shelf, just waiting to be enjoyed.
Does this ever happen to you? Piles of books all around, several with bookmarks peaking a third of the way through, with nothing to really satisfy you but a treasured volume hidden upon a shelf?
An Island Garden was reissued about ten years ago, reproduced with the art nouveau cover of its time
with an introduction by none other than Tasha Tudor. The book follows the island garden, in the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, through a year. The prose is poetic and beautifully crafted and the illustrations are by a friend of Celia Thaxter’s, Childe Hassam, who came summers to stay at Appledore House Hotel, where Celia worked with her family, who owned the hotel, acting as hostess. The hotel was a haven for artistes of the day, Hassam being one. Hassam and Thaxter became friends and he returned to the Isles of Shoals many times, painting some of his most memorable works there.
He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters the world with a passion for flowers in his soul. Celia Baxter, An Island Garden, page 4
From her earliest memories, Celia loved flowers. When she was four years old, her family moved to White Island, in the Isles of Shoals, where her father was the lighthouse keeper. A lonely place for a young child, young Celia grew to love the natural beauty of the island. The experience cemented not only her love of gardens, but, the islands themselves. That she shared her garden in 1894, near the end of her life, with words and images that still resonate today, is a gift to the reader; a time to reflect, to slow down, to listen to the rhythms of the wind and the soil and the seasons. That her friend illustrated it with such remarkable splendor only makes it all-the-more-special in An Island Garden.
I’m glad I acted on that urge to delve into one of my gardening books, to visit a nearby shelf, to slip the book out of its booksleeve and open its wondrous pages. It is good to be refreshed and renewed with the beauty of good words and beautiful paintings, is it not?
This looks like such a beautiful book. Thank you for pulling it out of your memory shelves, Penny.
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It is, Juliet, and her life story is interesting as well. She was married at 16, I believe Mr. Thaxter was her tutor and her father’s business partner. She was a published poet, knew the literati of the 1800’s, and was the hostess at Appledore, which became one of the first summer artists’ colonies in America.
Now, there I go, practically writing another post. Thank you, Juliet.
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Such a beautiful looking book with the wonderful illustrations. It reminds me of The Secret Garden. Also, I loved your visitors in last post. I have seen some recently, looking battle scarred and weary with spring still so far off for them. It must be a hard life for those that winter over here in NZ; nowhere really warm enough and constantly having to look for food. Luckily some hardy few do survive the winter and they are the ones that lay the eggs that become the the main laying butterflies of the season.
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Thanks, Marilyn. Hassam’s “illuminations” as they are called on the cover, are wonderful. Oh, to see the originals.
We haven’t seen as many butterflies this year here. I’m wondering if our erratic weather and violent storms have a part in that. I imagine your winters are challenging for the butterflies. Ah, the hardy ones that make it through and lay their eggs. Nature is so wonderful.
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What a beautiful book. I love old gardening books with their color plates and illustrations. I think I could collect them. Oh dear.
Lovely post. Thank you.
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Me, too, Teresa. I do keep a very old gardening encyclopedia around that is a tome and full of old-fashioned knowledge and know what you mean about those old color plates. There is a certain beauty in them and, yes, I too could collect them and will restrain myself from starting that (I think).
Thank you.
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Beautiful Penny! Thank you so much for sharing this gem with us. I am hoping it’s not too difficult to track down as I’d love a copy!
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Thank you. It is quite beautiful, Rachel. I think you can still buy it on Amazon and some bookstores (though it would be a real treasure to find an original in the bottom of a box). This edition was reissued and is a beautiful facsimile. I hope you can find a copy.
Appledore Island is open via ferry and Celia Thaxter’s garden has been revived. I know you are coming close to your time in NYC, but, if you are interested, here is the website for information:
http://www.sml.cornell.edu/sml_publiced_aboutthegarden.html
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Beautiful book — such lovely illustrations! I keep a couple of books going most of the time, especially when I am reading one that I enjoy but that sometimes feels like I’m slogging through it. (I read 100 lighter books while I was reading ‘Moby Dick’ recently. I could NOT get through the Dragon Tattoo, whichever one it was that was first, but Bill read and enjoyed the whole series.
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It is, Sallie, and sits, waiting for me, a patient friend.
Ha! I’m glad to see I’m not alone. Good for you for reading “Moby Dick”. I don’t know how many times I’ve started it, never finishing. Most folks I know would agree with Bill. I think I need to get through a few more pages and hope it will grab me. Or, I may just give up. Life is too short. We’ll see. I hate to let my book group down.
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Just the look of it has me desperate to open the pages! Wonderful book, Penny 🙂
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Hi, Kate. Thanks. It is a beauty to have on hand, especially with an iced tea in the garden.
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What a beautiful book. I believe I would pull it out during a dreary, cold, winter day and just dream of spring.
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It is such a lovely book to have on hand for just that sort of day, Janet. It was doing double duty the other day when I needed a bit of diversion. I think you would enjoy her love of the land. She actually had a friend send toads over to the island to use to eat the slugs that ate her plants. Two young boys were “employed” to catch the toads, much to their delight. They were put in a crate with dirt and sent by ferry across to the island. When they arrived, there looked like just two very thirsty toads, so, Celia, it seems, watered them and suddenly there were lots of toads coming out of the mud.
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This sounds wonderful, an old gardening book with beautiful illustrations. Sometimes when I am in the midst of reading a few contemporary books and nothing is really grabbing me, I go back to an old favorite and inevitably I find wisdom, comfort, and pleasure. I won’t give up on contemporary fiction, but there are times when I just need to be taken to a warm and happy place, and often it is only the classics that can do it.
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It is nice to have the sort of break an old favorite brings, isn’t it? I wouldn’t want to miss contemporary fiction either, Sunday. This is a lovely book and the type of book that can be opened to any page to find a balm for the soul.
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