The Cottage Book - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY DIARY OF AN EDWARDIAN STATESMAN: SIR EDWARD GREY.

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,colour illus+sepia photographic illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present - almost as new. Minisculely bumped to head+foot of spine/ backstrip,with reciprocal creasing,top two corners also minisculely bumped.Top+fore-edges crisp,bright and pristine; contents bright,tight and pristine too - an unread copy? Bright,clean,unblemished, publisher's original dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and green+white headband; with immaculate sepia photographic illustrated endpapers.UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn,6-176pp [paginated] includes dedication,a double-page colour map (Upper Itchen Valley),double-page colour detail map (Itchen Abbas),author introduction,diaries covering 1894-1905,profuse watercolour illustrations by Peter Snow (maps excluded) throughout the text and the book - virtually every page,many contemporary sepia+b/w photographs throughout the book,Dorothy Grey - a tribute by Elizabeth Robins,and Edward Grey tribute by Sydney Buxton. 'The Cottage Book' is a classic country diary compiled by Sir Edward Grey and his wife Dorothy at the turn of the century as a record of their visits to their cottage at Itchen Abbas in Hampshire.Grey,a Liberal MP for over thirty years,became Great Britain's longest-serving Foreign Secretary,holding the office from 1905 to 1916.He was a celebrated field naturalist and writer,in the same class as W.H. Hudson,Gilbert White and Isaak Walton,and was the author of 'The Charm of Birds' and 'Fly Fishing',to this day perhaps the two greatest books on their subjects.The diary describes visits to their cottage and the passing seasons.They wrote when it pleased them,as some occurrence took their fancy or engaged their attention: the emergence of the leaves on the beech trees; the reappearance of a favourite flower; long-tailed tits nest-building; the song of a nightingale; or the anticipated return of a blackcap.Their shared enthusiasm for nature shines through their prose in exquisite descriptions of the flora and fauna around their cottage,of enchanting walks and of bicycle rides in the surrounding Hampshire countryside.The birdsong, the wild flowers and other magic encounters with nature are lovingly described.The diary ends with the tragic death of Dorothy in February 1906. Edward Grey's Cottage Book was privately printed in 1909 for a small group of friends as a testament to the happiness he found with his wife. Only about twenty copies were produced and apart from a short appendix in G.M. Trevelyan's biography it has remained virtually unknown until today.This first publication,ninety years on,includes an introduction by Michael Waterhouse,postcards from the time,etchings by Heywood Sumner and specially commissioned watercolours of the flora and fauna described in the book. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight of this item, for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!