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Folio Seasons
Spring: A Folio Anthology
Fleeting but full of emerging life, spring brings the promise of sunny days and the sweeping away of winter blues. More delicate than summer and yet equally intense, it has moved many writers to words of praise. This generously illustrated collection of poetry and prose is by turns affectionate, humorous and elegiac, with work by George Orwell, Rachel Carson, Captain Scott and more.
In a passage from The Wind in the Willows, Mole spring-cleans his house before scrambling above ground to roll in 'the warm grass of a great meadow'. Anton Chekhov is in awe of the River Goltva's 'rampant spring waters' and a world 'lit by stars, bestrewing every corner of the sky'. Coleridge writes of birds rejoicing, their song no longer subdued by winter, while his friend Wordsworth meditates on the passage of time in his famous 'Ode: Intimations of Immortality'.
These extracts and many more are decorated with gorgeous colour illustrations by Petra Börner, the Swedish-born artist whose work appears across our seasonal anthologies. As well as two lush colour spreads, there are charming tailpieces depicting flora and fauna. Börner also created the book’s elegant binding design.
Writer and broadcaster Paul Evans provides a thoughtful preface. He remembers marvelling at a manuscript of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, illuminated with stems and leaves. Nature’s power to inspire is all the more poignant, he says, when we note that a manmade ‘facsimile’ threatens increasingly to take its place. These timeless extracts, celebrating the earth’s natural rhythms, are ‘literary narcotic jolts of Spring to last us until the next’.
In a passage from The Wind in the Willows, Mole spring-cleans his house before scrambling above ground to roll in 'the warm grass of a great meadow'. Anton Chekhov is in awe of the River Goltva's 'rampant spring waters' and a world 'lit by stars, bestrewing every corner of the sky'. Coleridge writes of birds rejoicing, their song no longer subdued by winter, while his friend Wordsworth meditates on the passage of time in his famous 'Ode: Intimations of Immortality'.
These extracts and many more are decorated with gorgeous colour illustrations by Petra Börner, the Swedish-born artist whose work appears across our seasonal anthologies. As well as two lush colour spreads, there are charming tailpieces depicting flora and fauna. Börner also created the book’s elegant binding design.
Writer and broadcaster Paul Evans provides a thoughtful preface. He remembers marvelling at a manuscript of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, illuminated with stems and leaves. Nature’s power to inspire is all the more poignant, he says, when we note that a manmade ‘facsimile’ threatens increasingly to take its place. These timeless extracts, celebrating the earth’s natural rhythms, are ‘literary narcotic jolts of Spring to last us until the next’.
85 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 8, 2018
This is another anthology by The Folio Society, collecting a number of literary pieces for one of the four seasons - this time: spring.
Thus, we get a passage from the well-known children's classic The Wind in the Willows as well as pieces from Beatrix Potter, Anton Chekhov, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others. Some entries here are poems, others are excerpts from books or letters; some actually have spring as their theme, while others were written in spring (signifying hope for soldiers at war for example).
As is typical for The Folio, the book is beautifully bound and features some nice art. Some of the illustrations span a double-page such as this:
Others are smaller ones underneath respective pieces, such as these:
All of the illustrations are pretty, keep with the colour theme for the season and the little book (which can be read in one sitting on one of the first days back on one's balcony or terrace) is a very nice way to welcome new live, blossoming flowers, chirping birds and the returning sunshine.
Thus, we get a passage from the well-known children's classic The Wind in the Willows as well as pieces from Beatrix Potter, Anton Chekhov, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others. Some entries here are poems, others are excerpts from books or letters; some actually have spring as their theme, while others were written in spring (signifying hope for soldiers at war for example).
As is typical for The Folio, the book is beautifully bound and features some nice art. Some of the illustrations span a double-page such as this:
Others are smaller ones underneath respective pieces, such as these:
All of the illustrations are pretty, keep with the colour theme for the season and the little book (which can be read in one sitting on one of the first days back on one's balcony or terrace) is a very nice way to welcome new live, blossoming flowers, chirping birds and the returning sunshine.
March 29, 2020
As a seasonal anthology, this falls short by comparison to the Wildlife Trust’s Spring. There are too many letters or journal entries that only happen to be set in March to May and don’t in any way evoke the season. The selection of poems and passages is fairly predictable, and closing with a premonitory extract from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring makes for a downbeat conclusion.
Highlights: the preface by Paul Evans, Parson Woodforde’s pigs getting drunk on the dregs of some beer (1778), Elizabeth David rhapsodizing about a wild asparagus risotto she had in Italy, and Angus Buchanan coming upon an idyllic setting in Wildlife in Canada.
The contents might have been 2 star, but the gorgeous cover, slightly ornate font that liaises s or c with t, and the three two-page green-dominated illustrations push it up to a 3. Still, this is one I’ll likely donate back to the free bookshop I got it from rather than keeping it around on the shelves for future years.
Highlights: the preface by Paul Evans, Parson Woodforde’s pigs getting drunk on the dregs of some beer (1778), Elizabeth David rhapsodizing about a wild asparagus risotto she had in Italy, and Angus Buchanan coming upon an idyllic setting in Wildlife in Canada.
The contents might have been 2 star, but the gorgeous cover, slightly ornate font that liaises s or c with t, and the three two-page green-dominated illustrations push it up to a 3. Still, this is one I’ll likely donate back to the free bookshop I got it from rather than keeping it around on the shelves for future years.
February 11, 2018
Physically a nice little book with a pleasing cover depicting flowering bulbs. The actual selection of contents was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some delights: favourites of mine were the Clare piece, and the Robert Browning pieces, but the overall effect was spoiled by some entries that really had nothing to do with spring but had happened to have taken place in spring e.g. the very unimpressive diary entry from Virginia Woolf. Also there were far too many war related pieces. If I had wanted a war anthology I'd have bought one, and generally rather too much gloom and not enough joy, and some of the joyful pieces were silly rather than delightful.
October 8, 2018
I did enjoy this anthology, and at the same time I feel it could have been a lot better. Many of the entries had a very tenuous link to spring - often simply the date it was written. This was disappointing, as the very reason I decided to read this collection during springtime was to savour the wonder and beauty of this season ...
April 5, 2024
A collection of writings associated with spring, or that were written between March-May, with one or two inclusions slightly tenuous.
October 6, 2020
A delightful folio of poetry, passages from novels and diary entries all relating to Spring. The last piece is very apt being from Rachel Carsons Silent Spring. A stark reminder of where we're headed.
September 25, 2022
definitely a few weird inclusion choices here but overall lovely. Reading reminds me of how different Australian spring and English spring are - feels like we’re just having a little precursor to summer compared to England
May 31, 2018
Third in this series of seasonal anthologies, here introduced by Paul Evans and with the cut paper illustrations by Petra Börner that have been a feature of the books; green is the predominant shade...
A fairly decent selection of April-themed poems and the usual odd extras.
A fairly decent selection of April-themed poems and the usual odd extras.
June 1, 2021
Beautifully illustrated; well-made; odd selections
Recommend: Nope.
Recommend: Nope.
March 23, 2022
It was ok. I liked the mix of genres I just didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind all of the inclusions.
January 30, 2021
Die Frühlings - Anthologie gefiel mir gut. Wieder habe ich immer mal zwischendurch die kurzen Texte gelesen und konnte mich diesmal besser darauf einlassen. Natürlich steht die Natur im Mittelpunkt und während ich selbst beobachtet habe, wie alles grüner wurde, las ich, wie andere ihre Beobachtungen in Worte gefasst haben.
Die Illustrationen und insgesamt die Aufmachung des Bandes machen wieder einen großen Teil des Reizes aus.
Die Illustrationen und insgesamt die Aufmachung des Bandes machen wieder einen großen Teil des Reizes aus.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews