By 2008 the Fireside Books are no longer “of David Hope”.Īs early as 1989, there are occasional odd touches. Some changes are laudable – by 1996 an index has appeared (although it is ugly) and some of the artists are named (although others are communally referred to as ‘staff artists’). The nostalgic, pretty sentiment of The Fireside Books of the 70s and 80s has almost entirely gone but its replacements are not improvements. My initial reluctance to look at the later editions when they came into my hands was, sadly, justified. Jody the tabby kitten, Hamish the Scotch terrier (who is chasing rabbits in heaven) and faithful horses are our friends. ![]() Cricket (“The Game that’s Never Done” – how true), lawn bowls, gardening, visiting, rambling, gazing about in a pensive manner, reading and sailing are our pastimes. Deer, robin redbreasts and snow are essential to the Christmas illustrations. ![]() The books even granted me a glimpse of my future husband –Įvery month (April is a favourite) and season (autumn rules) has its poems. I felt an occasional jolt when I learnt that a poem which I thought belonged exclusively in my Fireside books, is owned by the world – Themes emerge across the years – the allure of the wild hills, the longing of a urbanite for the countryside, the cosy home on a cold night. Fay Inchfawn, John Betjeman, Eleanor Farjeon, Edna Jaques – these great invokers of an England which never existed wrote these poems for me, and artists unknown illustrated them. “England” to me then was the numinous, the picturesque, Oxford, the past and the future. One day he came home with an astonishing pile hidden behind his back. “Deep in heaven now I lie, while the white clouds billow by…”Īlthough I was given one or two more of these precious tomes during my childhood – I remember having a library full – years later, as an adult, I found an issue which I didn’t have. Some of these poems are in my mind to this day. How evocative those images are – they were the cultured, fairyland England of my childhood imagination – It has been admired, treasured and memorised. The dust jacket of this 1973 edition tells how well-loved it has been. Our very first Fireside Book was given to L for Christmas 1972. This copy (below) came into the TVC household decades after its birth, when P found it in a second-hand bookshop. The copy which L owns and treasures has “Christmas 1967” hand-written inside the front cover, although the book itself is not dated. ![]() The first Fireside Book of David Hope (“ A picture and a poem for every mood, chosen by David Hope”) was printed and published by D C Thomson & Co Ltd (Dundee and London).
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