Folio Archives 224: Bird Poems by John Clare 1980

Bird Poems by John Clare 1980

I am not a great fan of poetry, but I bought this lovely little book for two reasons :-
– I am a lover of engravings, and there are 41 delightful wood engravings by Thomas Bewick that are so detailed they can only be fully appreciated with a magnifier or when photographically enlarged, as they are in this review.
- My second reason is that John Clare was a peasant poet who lived in the Lincolnshire fens from 1793 to 1864, an area in which I worked as a doctor in the early 1970 when there were unsealed roads and villages without electricity, and I delivered babies on a wood slab table in the kitchen by the light of a kerosene lamp.

Clare knew the fens and its birdlife intimately, which shows in his poetry, but in mid-life became insane, and lived out the rest of his life in an asylum, where he continued to write his poetry. There are 84 poems, none longer than two pages, in this 150 page book, along with Bewick’s engravings that are all taken from his two volume A History of British Birds published in 1885.

There is a ten page introduction by Peter Levi which details Clare’s life, and at the back of the book there is a list of plates, a glossary and notes about some of the birds.

The book is quarter-bound in blue artificial leather with grey patterned cloth boards, plain brown endpapers and a pale yellow patterned slipcase that is 20.1x12.8cm. The page tops are stained brown. The spine title runs from bottom to top.



















































































FS Bookmark that has been torn off an order form.


An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

That is indeed lovely, Warwick. Thank you for sharing

There have been Folios I couldn't possibly part with in downsizing my library over the past few years to more manageable proportions. Clare's Bird Poems, exquisitely illustrated by Thomas Bewick, is one of them. To me, this edition along with the others in this earliest Folio series of small poetry volumes quarter bound in leather over cloth boards, represents the Folio ideal of beautiful materials matched with the perfect reading size.

Incidentally, for any Devotee not taken with the recent Hardy LE or its price, there's a charming Hardy volume in the same series, published by FS in 1979, quarter bound in black leather over pleasingly tactile dark green cloth boards :)

A book that has been on my wish list for a while. Thank you >1 wcarter:, once again, for a beautiful review. I've also have Bewick's 'A History of British Birds' on said list. I am unable to resist a beautiful wood engraving.

Love wood engravings

Thanks for another wonderful entry in the Archives.

Thomas Bewick is himself a very interesting character and there is a Bewick Society, www.bewicksociety.org, to promote interest in his life and work.

He is principally remembered today as the author and illustrator of the first true birding field guide, the aforementioned “A History of British Birds”. The FS edition from 2010 is a lovely production with his exquisite wood engravings on nearly every page.

Bewick’s name is commemorated in the Eurasian subspecies of the Tundra Swan, known as Bewick’s Swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii), and in North America in the Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii).

This is one of my favourite Folios - an example of what FS used to do best. I can only agree with >6 Son.of.York: about A History of British Birds - another absolute favourite. Bewick's My Lifeis both a great read and a classic 'standard' middle years FS production, an essential on my shelves.

I can also recommend Jenny Uglow's biography of Thomas Bewick, Nature's Engraver as the usual excellent read that she produces (one of my favourite biographers).

>7 Willoyd:

Can I add that the Folio "My Life" was a presentation volume originally, free to members.

Many thanks to >6 Son.of.York: for the link to the Bewick Society. Having looked at the link then clicking to details of the Bewick Prize and then through to the Society of Wood Engravers, I have now gone and hidden my credit cards. Also many thanks to >7 Willoyd:; I've placed a reservation for Jenny Uglow's biography through my local library having read the Guardian review, and what a delight to discover that Bronte references Bewick in Jane Eyre.

>8 folio_books:
Can I add that the Folio "My Life" was a presentation volume originally, free to members.
I miss those! This was before my time, but what a good choice.

>8 folio_books: >10 Willoyd: I have a copy, from back in the day. I really should get around to reading it at some point!

My thanks too, Warwick, for the review of this lovely little book, and the fine photographs of the engravings. The book is one of the 'informal' (Folio 60) series of Folio poets which ran for over thirty years from the Society's very earliest days. The early books of the series were plagued by the poor quality of their leather bindings - perhaps because of post-war conditions - and are now difficult to find in good condition, but the later books, John Clare, GM Hopkins, Thomas Hardy, and the similar Catullus, are all much better. One other book of the series, the Wordsworth of 1970, is also illustrated by Bewick engravings.

And the earlier FS edition of Jane Eyre has one Bewick illustration as a nod to the reference in Chapter One (>9 ASheppard:). Jenny Uglow uses the Jane Eyre reference as an epigraph to her biography of Bewick, which I also thoroughly recommend with the comment that the original hardback, published by Faber, is of nice quality, and can be had for next to nothing in the UK at any rate.

It's a lovely book, and although the vinyl binding remains immaculate, it would still have been better to have even bonded leather. Also a reminder that coloured illustrations are not necessary to make a book memorable.