John Betjeman | Author | LibraryThing

About the Author

A leading modern champion of the values of an older England, John Betjeman was born in Highgate, London, to a well-off merchant family. The loneliness and suffering of his upbringing, first under nursemaids and then at a series of schools, often surface in his poetry. He went to Magdalene College, show more Oxford, where he belonged to the same smart social set as Evelyn Waugh. Deliberately free from the difficulties of much modern verse, Betjeman's poetry harks back to a more accessible British tradition that includes Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Thomas Hardy. With quiet wit he resisted the debasements of modern mass culture in favor of an older England simpler, more rural, and more religious than the current one. Both W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin especially admired his work, and Auden even edited a selection of it. His harsher critics have found him unintellectual and sentimental. His poetry has achieved a huge circulation in Great Britain, with the Collected Poems (1958) reputedly selling more than 100,000 copies. Considered a national institution, he succeeded Cecil Day Lewis as poet laureate in 1972. Betjeman worked in a variety of media and achieved wide public attention as host for a television series on the history of British architecture, one of his prime interests. He wrote a great deal on architecture, especially for the Architectural Review. Betjeman died in 1984. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: J. Betjeman, John Betjeman, John Betjeman, JOHN BETJAMIN, John Betjemen, John): (Betjeman, Ed John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman, John Betjeman, ed., John Betjeman et al, L John (Moholy-Nagy Betjeman, Earl of John; Birkenhead Betjeman, John Betjeman - compiled by The Earl of Birkenhead

Series

John Betjeman Letters

Works by John Betjeman

Popular Recent

Collected Poems (1958) 788 copies

The Best of Betjeman (1978) 259 copies

Summoned By Bells (1960) 214 copies

Trains and Buttered Toast: Selected Radio Talks (2006) 193 copies

Ghastly good taste; or, A depressing story of the rise and fall of English architecture (1933) 96 copies

A Pictorial History of English Architecture (1970) 90 copies

Tennis Whites and Teacakes (2007) 83 copies

Betjeman's Britain (1999) 83 copies

English Cities & Small Towns (1943) 82 copies

John Betjeman Selected Poems (2004) 77 copies

First and Last Loves (1952) 71 copies

John Betjeman: Poems Selected by Hugo Williams (2006) 67 copies

English Love Poems (1974) — Editor — 59 copies

An Oxford University Chest (1938) 57 copies

Guide to Selected English Parish Churches (1958) 56 copies

London's Historic Railway Stations (1972) 56 copies

Sweet Songs of Zion (2007) 55 copies

John Betjeman Letters: Volume One: 1926 to 1951 (1994) 53 copies

Betjeman's England (2009) 50 copies

Coming Home: Selected Prose of Sir John Betjeman (1997) 49 copies

The City of London Churches (1965) 46 copies

Church Poems (1981) 44 copies

Victorian and Edwardian London from Old Photographs (1955) 41 copies

The Illustrated Summoned by Bells (1984) 41 copies

John Betjeman on Trains (2006) 39 copies

John Betjeman Letters: Volume Two: 1952 to 1984 (1995) 36 copies

A nip in the air (1974) 36 copies

Westminster Abbey (1972) 35 copies

In Praise of Churches (1996) 34 copies

John Piper (1944) 31 copies

Continual Dew: A Little Book of Bourgeois Verse (1937) 30 copies

Betjeman's Best British Churches (2011) 29 copies

A ring of bells: Poems of John Betjeman (1962) 29 copies

High and Low (1966) 28 copies

Lovely Bits of Old England: John Betjeman at the Telegraph (2012) 28 copies

Best Loved Poems of John Betjeman (2003) 25 copies

Shell Guide : Cornwall (1935) 23 copies

Betjeman's Cornwall (1988) 21 copies

Uncollected Poems (1745) 20 copies

John Betjeman (1958) 20 copies

The Illustrated Poems of John Betjeman (1995) 19 copies

A Few Late Chrysanthemums (1954) 19 copies

John Betjeman's Oxford (1990) 18 copies

Archie and the Strict Baptists (1977) 17 copies

Altar and pew: Church of England verses (Pocket poets) (1959) — Editor — 16 copies

English Churches (1964) 15 copies

Classic Hymns & Carols (2012) — Foreword — 15 copies

Poems in the porch (1955) 14 copies

New bats in old belfries : poems (1945) 11 copies

Victorian and Edwardian Cornwall from Old Photographs (1976) — Author — 11 copies

Murray's Berkshire architectural guide (1949) 11 copies

Collins Pocket guide to English parish churches The South (1968) 10 copies

Victorian and Edwardian Oxford from old photographs (1971) 8 copies

Vintage London (1942) 8 copies

Harvest Bells: New and Uncollected Poems by John Betjeman (2019) 7 copies

Collins pocket guide to English parish churches : the North (1967) 7 copies

English, Scottish and Welsh Landscape, 1700-c. 1860. [Poems.] Chosen by J. Betjeman and G. Taylor. With original… (1978) 7 copies

Flower of Cities - A Book of London: Studies and Sketches by Twenty-Two Authors (1949) 7 copies

Betjeman on Faith : An anthology of his religious prose (2011) 6 copies

Mount Zion : or, In touch with the infinite 6 copies

Victorian and Edwardian Brighton from Old Photographs (1972) 5 copies

Old lights for new chancels : verses topographical and amatory (1940) 5 copies

John Betjeman, A First Class Collection (2006) 5 copies

Slick But Not Streamlined (1947) 4 copies

Westminster Cathedral (guide to the architecture and interior the history and pastoral functions of the metropolitan… (1990) 4 copies

Antiquarian prejudice 4 copies

Summoned by Bells: A Life in Verse (BBC Audio) (2008) 4 copies

Betjeman's Banana Blush (1995) 4 copies

Murray's Buckinghamshire Architectural Guide (1948) 4 copies

Selected Poems. Ed. John Sparrow. (1948) 3 copies

John Betjeman and the Railways 3 copies

Betjeman Reads Betjeman (1993) 3 copies

Metro-Land 3 copies

An American's Guide to English Parish Churches, Including the Isle of Man (1958) 3 copies

John Betjeman Collection: "Summoned by Bells", "Poetry from the BBC Archives", "Recollections from the BBC Archives"… (2000) 3 copies

Parody Party (1970) — Author — 3 copies

Betjeman's Britain: Poems from BBC Archi (2008) 2 copies

Betjeman's Britain [Import anglais] 2 copies

English Scottish and Welsh Landscape 1700 - C. 1860 (1945) 2 copies

Selected poems : chosen, with a pref (1948) 2 copies

Metro-land 2 copies

Collins Guide to English Parish Churches - Including the Isle of Man (1958) 2 copies

Still Sidmouth — The 'Lost' Poem (2000) 2 copies

The John Betjeman Hymnbook (2011) 2 copies

Diary Of A Church Mouse 1 copy

Antiquarian Predjudice 1 copy

Pocket Poets, The 1 copy

Six Betjeman Songs 1 copy

Murray's Buckinghamshire Guide 1 copy

Poems 1 copy

The Illustrated Summoned by Bells. With Paintings and Drawings by Hugh Casson 1 copy

West Country Churches: Four Essays 1 copy

Diary of Percy Progress 5 - Advertising De Luxe [short fiction] 1 copy

An American's guide to English parish churches 1 copy

Sir John Betjeman's Britain 1 copy

Some Irish Churchyard Sculpture 1 copy

Shell Guide : Shropshire (1951) 1 copy

John Betjeman letters: volume one,1926 to 1951, and, volume two, 1951 to 1984 (1994) — Author — 1 copy

Altar and Pew: Church of England Verses 1 copy

John Betjeman's Collected Poems 1 copy

Late Flowering Lust 1 copy

Diary of Percy Progress 4 - The Business Man's Yule [short fiction] 1 copy

The Golden Treasury of John Betjaman 1 copy

In Westminster Abbey 1 copy

Devonshire Street W1 (in The Norton Book of London) 1 copy

Parliament Hill Fields (in The Norton Book of London) 1 copy

Monody on the Death of Aldersgate Street Station (in The Norton Book of London) 1 copy

My Favourite Betjeman : a selection of his poems by a selection of admirers (1985) 1 copy

The Poems of John Betjeman 1 copy

Beautiful Poetry Classics Collection (2000) 1 copy

Murray's Architectural Guide (1949) 1 copy

St. Peter-in-the-East, Oxford : a short guide with foreword 1 copy

Poetry for pleasure : the Hallmark book of poetry 1 copy

Diary of Percy Progress III - Business [short fiction] 1 copy

A Whale of a Story Review of Moby Dick by Herman Melville Daily Herald, 9 January 1947, p. 2. (1947) 1 copy

Collins Pocket Guide To English Parish Churches, The North & The South (1968) 1 copy

John Betjeman - A Bird's Eye View [DVD] 1 copy

The Great Days of the Country Railway 1 copy

Varsity Rag 1 copy

Metro-Land [DVD] [1973] (1973) 1 copy

Highgate Cemetery 1 copy

John Betjeman - A Bird's Eye View [DVD] 1 copy

Diary of Percy Progress I - The Cag bag and the Mags [short fiction] 1 copy

Diary of Percy Progress II - My Talk With an Earl [short fiction] 1 copy

Branchline Railway [VHS] 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) — Afterword, some editions — 54,044 copies

The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,267 copies

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 925 copies

The Nation's Favourite Poems (1996) — Contributor — 626 copies

A Pocket Book of Modern Verse (1954) — some editions — 446 copies

Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy (1956) — Contributor — 428 copies

The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse (1950) — Contributor, some editions — 265 copies

The Portable Conservative Reader (1982) — Contributor — 211 copies

British Poetry Since 1945 (1970) — Contributor, some editions — 167 copies

English Cottages (1982) — Introduction — 136 copies

The Everyman Anthology of Poetry for Children (1994) — Contributor — 72 copies

The Faber Book of Christmas (1996) — Contributor — 47 copies

The Third Omnibus of Crime (1935) — Contributor — 45 copies

The Fifth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1969) — Contributor — 35 copies

The Book of Ghost Stories (1979) — Foreword — 33 copies

Oscar Wilde: A Collection of Critical Essays (1969) — Contributor — 26 copies

The English Counties Illustrated (1948) — Contributor — 18 copies

Shell Guide : South-West Wales : Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire (1963) — Editor — 17 copies

Vanishing Victoriana (1976) — Foreword — 17 copies

Song at the Year's Turning: Poems 1942–1954 (1955) — Introduction, some editions — 16 copies

Fire and Sleet and Candlelight: New Poems of the Macabre (1961) — Contributor — 16 copies

Shell Guide : Suffolk (1960) — Editor — 14 copies

Homage to P. G. Wodehouse (1973) — Contributor — 13 copies

The Eighteen Nineties: A Period Anthology In Prose and Verse (1948) — Introduction — 13 copies

Shell Guide : Northumberland (1954) — Editor — 13 copies

Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse (1982) — Contributor — 12 copies

Shell Guide : Norfolk (1957) — Editor — 12 copies

Shell Guide : Gloucestershire (1939) — Editor — 12 copies

Shell Guide : Pilot to the South Coast Harbours (1971) — Editor — 9 copies

Little Innocents: Childhood Reminiscences (1932) — Contributor — 9 copies

All Day Long: An Anthology of Poetry for Children (1954) — Contributor — 9 copies

Men and Women: The Poetry of Love (1970) — Contributor — 8 copies

Shell Guide : Devon (1937) — Editor — 7 copies

The West Country Book (1981) — Contributor — 6 copies

Shell Guide : Mid Wales: Brecon, Radnor and Montgomery (1960) — Editor — 6 copies

From Tower to Tower Block: the Buildings of Hackney (1979) — Foreword — 6 copies

Shell Guide : Oxfordshire — Editor — 5 copies

Shell Guide : Worcestershire (1964) — Editor — 5 copies

Shell Guide : Wiltshire (1956) — Editor — 4 copies

Shell Guide : The West Coast Of Scotland (1938) — Editor — 4 copies

Shell Guide : Herefordshire — Editor — 4 copies

The West in English History (1949) — Contributor — 3 copies

Shell Guide : Rutland (1963) — Editor — 3 copies

Metro-Land 3 copies

One Hundred Years a Diocese (1977) — Contributor — 2 copies

Anton — Foreword — 1 copy

Typography : a quarterly, no. 2, Spring 1937 (1937) — Contributor — 1 copy

Avallaunius, Winter 1997, Seventeen : the journal of the Arthur Machen Society (1997) — Contributor — 1 copy

The London Mercury Vol Xxvii No 158 December 1932 — Contributor — 1 copy

Festival of the City of London : 1962 programme book — Contributor — 1 copy

Little reviews anthology — Contributor, some editions — 1 copy

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1906-08-28
Date of death: 1984-05-19
Gender: male
Nationality: England (birth)
UK
Birthplace: Highgate, London, England, UK
Place of death: Trebetherick, Cornwall, England
Places of residence: London, England, UK
Trebetherick, Cornwall, England, UK
Dublin, Ireland
Uffington, England, UK
Farnborough, Hampshire, England, UK
Wantage, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Education: University of Oxford (Magdalen College)
Byron House
Highgate School
Dragon School
Marlborough College
Occupations: poet
writer
broadcaster
Relationships: Chetwode, Penelope (wife)
Green, Candida Lycett (daughter)
Green, Imogen Lycett (granddaughter)
Eliot, T. S. (teacher)
Lewis, C. S. (tutor)
Wilson, Mary (friend)
Organizations: American Academy of Arts and Letters (Foreign Honorary ∙ Literature ∙ 1973)
Friends of Friendless Churches
Awards and honors: Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature
Order of the British Empire (Commander, 1960)
Knight Bachelor (1969)
Poet Laureate of England (1972)
Short biography: Sir John Betjeman, (1906 – 1984) was a twentieth-century English poet, writer and broadcaster. Born to a middle-class family in Edwardian Hampstead, he attended Oxford University, and his early ability in writing poetry and interest in architecture supported him throughout his life. Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as British Poet Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television. His works include poetry, prose and television appearances.

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Reviews

Betjeman's Britain: Poems from the BBC Archives… by John Betjeman

This selection of Betjeman's poems was read by himself. Some of them had an introduction from him, what he was thinking or the meaning of some words and terms used. At times he is a miserable old so and so "things were better back when...". At other times his attitudes towards women is slightly uncomfortable, the gels etc. But in some of these there are some lovely lyrical images conjured up. I'm fairly sure that there were some in here I'd not heard or read before. As a bell ringer I find his fascination with bells to be enchanting, he really is enthralled by them.… (more)

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Helenliz | Jun 16, 2023 |

Archie and the Strict Baptists by Sir John Betjeman

A lovely, straightforward story about Archie, a teddy bear, who enjoys attending the Strict Baptist chapel nearby. When (his unseen human) family moves away, he misses attending services until he manages to cut some wings out of brown paper and fly to the local chapel. He shares the sermons with his friend and fellow cupboard dweller, Jumbo, a small stuffed elephant. There are Aneucapnic lamps in the first chapel.

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raizel | May 6, 2020 |

A nip in the air by John Betjeman

Doesn't inspire great passion, but easy to enjoy and admire.

½

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amanda4242 | Nov 8, 2017 |

John Betjeman Collected Poems by John Betjeman

Ahhhhh, Sir John Betjeman. He's the kind of person you read if Prince Harry just ain't fucking British enough for ya. Take the tram up Tottenham-of-Berfordshire and come to the land of Hobbiton and The Shire. Much of this book is too esoteric for Americans to "get" but I imagine if you're British and you're not at home this stuff will make you nostalgic. The best of this collection is quite great and contrary to what Christopher Hitchens says of the British laureate-ship and the downhill tendencies exhibited after earning of it, I didn't see a dive in quality. In fact, I had given up on this book for a long time before I reached the material to which Hitchens would've referred. It was his calling himself a "poet and a hack" that made me really come back. It takes a big man to admit to hack tendencies, I think, and as far as poets go he may never reach the heights of whatsay your Tennyson but that could be a deficiency of aim rather than actual talent.… (more)

½

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