Victorian Posy

by Sheila Pickles

A treasury of poetry, prose, and art celebrating the charm and beauty of the English garden, with marbled endpapers, slipcase, and silk ribbon marker. 74 full-color illustrations.

Genres: Poetry

111 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Sheila began her career working for Franco Zeffirelli in the worlds of theatre, film and opera in Italy in the 60s. "He was my education," says Sheila. "He was the first one to open my eyes to the whole world of the Arts. In Rome beauty was all around me." At Zeffirelli's suggestion she took over the dying business of Penhaligon's - the historic perfume house making colognes and special preparations for discerning gentlemen - and spent the next two decades brilliantly bringing the business back to International life. Starting with the launch of several exquisite new scents, her creativity took her into designing original luxury gifts and finally into publishing. Sixteen unique scented anthologies of verse and prose redefined the giftbook market including the international bestseller, The Language of Flowers. Two million copies sold!

With the Objets d'Art Jewellery website, Sheila has created a 21st century version of her books, now on line for the next generation. Showing the inspiration and provenance of the jewellery gives a special meaning to which everyone can immediately relate. "Working in the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence with Zeffirelli during the Florence Flood in 1966 was a cathartic time for me", says Sheila. "This was when I realised for the first time the full value of the past and what it can offer us in the future."

Sheila’s creative spark and enormous energy are taking her into a new world, mastering website technology and new marketing techniques in a different direction close to her heart - the beauty of jewellery.

Sheila has two children, James who works in film and Charlotte who is a make-up artist. Charlotte has lent us her beautiful face and is one of the jewellery models.

Reviews

[Hannah Briggs]

3.5 ⭐️ a lovely little book with various poetry and beautiful pictures

[Natasha M.]

Even after all these many years it still has the faint whiff of Penhaligon's Victorian Posy. When I was a child I used to take it out of it's slip case and sniff the pages while admiring the illustrations. I have always associated the scent as a sort of dainty antique floral fragrance.

So there we have the first of it's many charms. This book is a collection of assorted excerpts from novels (Like Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Flora Thompson's Larkrise to Candleford), letters, reviews from periodicals of the time, poetry, rhymes and illustrations all to evoke the halcyon beauty of the Victorian landscapes throughout the seasons. I particularly like one illustration towards the end detailing children engaged in a snowball fight. In the foreground walks a couple (whether they are husband and wife or father and daughter is hard to say...) and the gentleman in question has his arm raised to block the onslaught of snowballs that have flown a bit too wide their mark.

It's a fun little book to pick up and put down, to read as the mood overtakes one, perhaps better still to peruse it while sitting in a garden in full splendor. I quite like these season garden books. I have another one I'm very slowly reading that I need to add to my Goodreads.

[Jasmine Shadows]

This little book of poetry and illustrations is simply delightful. I enjoy the fact that it not only includes the common poets but some that are not so commonly known. The illustrations were charming. It broke the poems into seasons and included some I had never before read. A very enjoyable and quick read.

[Faith]

I found my copy at an antique store, and it still smells wonderful! The poetry and prose are beautiful. I took my time reading it and even researched a little more about certain poems that I liked.

[Tonya Suggs]

An absolutely beautiful collection of poems. Not only that, this book has exceeded my expectations with both the illustrations and how wonderfully it smelled. I highly recommend this as a new addition to your collection.

[Tillie]

This is an odd one to rate and review, as my rating for it as an experience is very different to it as a collection.

As an experience, with the paintings that accompany each poem or extract and the gorgeous scent that the book has retained 40 years after it's production, it's closer to a 4 star rating.

On the other hand, as a collection of poetry and prose I find it to be rather lacking, hence the 2 stars. I underlined several sections in the poems (mostly wording or rhymes I like, it's not very deep thematically which is to be expected) but a lot of the poems in here were lacklustre or felt out of place. In addition to this, the vast majority of the prose extracts felt pointless when devoid of their original contexts and often resulted in tonal whiplash as it ruined the flow as opposed to smoothly transitioning from poem to poem.

Overall, it's a very pretty book that certainly has value and I think the idea of a poetry/prose extract collection being designed to accompany a specific perfume is an interesting and novel idea, I just wish that the actual collection of works were more interesting. To be transparent, I did read this within a few hours and this book definitely isn't intended to be read that way, so it may be my fault that I didn't enjoy it as much as some other people. 

[Lisa Miller]

This is a nice book. The pictures are beautiful. This book is scented with Victorian Posy. Yes, this is a scented book. I have never heard of such a thing before. The poetry, the pictures and the fact this book is hardback is wonderful but what puts it over the top for me is it is lightly scented with Victorian Posy. That is what makes this book cool and it is on my shelf never to leave.

[Everlinet]

Delightful illustrated and scented book of verses. All so beautiful! The old vintage illustrations are very darling. The marble from paper, the cover, all the details. Such a nice collectible book. Perfect for relaxing outside during spring.

[Missi]

3.5 A sweet little perfumed posy.

[Carmela]

Neat collection. Sheila Pickles knows how to pick worthy reads.

[Meg]

Stunning for the visual and smell, but overall very lacking and boring selections of poetry and writing.

[Kathryn]

Another addition from the library-sale bag! This looks absolutely charming; poetry illustrated with all manner of lovely Victorian paintings and sketches (those of you who love Victorian Trading Company as much as I do will recognize some favorites!) A very, very PRETTY sort of book--the kind that just makes you feel relaxed and happy to browse through it.

[Jzmom]

I've had this book, since I was about 10 or 11. It still smells the same, despite the years that have passed.. oh about 16!! Goodness! I love the poems encased in this book.. so many favorites! My childhood favorite was the Adelaide Proctor poem. "...shall I tell you what magical fairy built up this palace for me? It was only a little white violet I found at the root of the tree."

[Heather Stewart]

I have loved this book for so many years. It's a keeper. I got it from my mother on Xmas day when I was 17 and it still has its lovely scent over 20 years later!