In the Forest of Arden

by Hamilton Wright Mabie (Illustrator), Will Hicok Low (Illustrator)

Under the greenwood tree, Who loves to lie with me, And turn his merry note Unto the sweet birds throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither Rosalind had just laid a spray of apple blossoms on the study table, Well, I said, when shall we To-morrow. Rosalind has a habit of swift decision when she has settled a question in her own mind, and I was not sur- prised when she replied with a single decisive word. But she also has a habit of making thorough preparation in any train, not a movement made toward any winding up of household affairs. I had great faith in her ability to execute her plans with celerity, but I doubted whether she could be ready to turn the key in the door, bid farewell to the milkman and the butcher, and start the very next day

124 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Hamilton Wright Mabie, A.M., L.H.D., LL.D. (1846–1916) was an American essayist, editor, critic, and lecturer.

Reviews

[meheadhurts]

August Reading Challenge TBR Knockdown Challenge #7 Pages Come and Gone - oldest book on your shelf.
not sure if this is the oldest on my shelf, but as the copy I own is dated 1898, I think it will satisfy this challenge quite nicely. I have it displayed on a shelf because of the beautiful cover, so seems a good idea to read it and find out if I enjoy the content as well as the cover!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought it because of the beautiful cover, and it’s designed beautifully inside too.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! The artwork and style is stunning.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a literal level this is the story about a couple’s vacation. It captures many of the universal qualities of vacations: the anticipation and worrying about details as the trip approaches, the way that life’s cares seem so unreal and far away while on the trip, the strange feeling upon returning that you have changed, but home is still the same, and the disappointment of the trip being over:

“I think we were both a little reluctant to enter and begin again the old round of life and work.”

But the location of their vacation, the Forest of Arden, is more an attitude or a state of being than an actual place. It represents Nature as a whole, or any place that is wholly natural and untainted by human touch.

The experiences of the narrator and Rosalind in the Forest of Arden are a celebration of Nature and of its ability to change people, to ease our cares, to make the stressful and hectic human world fall away. The Forest of Arden affects the characters’ senses of time and self, and their experiences with books, friends, and each other.

Sometimes the narrator can feel quite pretentious and condescending as he compares those who go to the Forest of Arden to those who don’t. Sometimes the long descriptions are hard to get through— I often had to go back and reread, forcing myself to focus, as my eyes had glazed over during a passage. But, it is interesting to read an 1890s perspective on the trials and cares of life. Daily life in the 1890s sounds very similar to that in the 2010s. And, some of the reflections and descriptions truly are beautiful and worth reflection.

[P.J. Paulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books. Have read it several times, always in the old 1898 to 1906 versions in the green cloth with gilt cover, and decorated pages. A fanciful tale of a young couple’s vacation to a more enlightened place - beautifully described as a physical location, though actually an attitudinal place rather than physical. Beautiful book in every way; a book to savour.