Art, almanac and aristocracy By Chelsea Physic Garden Aster, £12.99 By James Hamilton W&N, £25 By Deborah Hart Strober & Gerald Strober September Publishing, £25 Text by Alan Powers and Lydia Wilson Random Spectacular, £35
The Herb Almanac
This charming book taps into the zeitgeist for natural remedies as conventional medicine struggles to contain Covid. However, Chelsea Physic Garden isn’t simply jumping on the botanical bandwagon: for the past 350 years it has been at the forefront of cultivating and researching medicinal plants. What was once a quaint curiosity now seems more relevant to many consumers.
As observed in the introduction, ‘using herbs seasonally to add variety and therapeutic benefit to our lives reconnects us with generations past and with nature herself’. The book is divided according to the four seasons.
The recommendations therein aren’t meant to be prescriptive or followed slavishly, but rather it’s ‘more about reconnecting with the cycle of nature and how that season’s harvest can be helpful for ailments and emotions particular to the time of year’.
It’s full of fascinating detail; who knew that nettle beer offered a quick route to intoxication? Or that lady’s mantle could tone up ‘overgreat flagging breasts’?
Constable: a portrait
James Hamilton’s book, which coincides with the recent Late Constable exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, argues that while the painter’s 19th-century work makes him one of our most popular artists, he is also little understood.
John Constable’s 19th-century landscapes and skyscapes were revolutionary: vivid, fresh and inventive, with bold brushstrokes and attention to detail. His mostcelebrated works depict the places he knew and loved, Suffolk and Hampstead in particular, and he was a master at conveying nature’s splendour and awe. Hamilton now gives us an account of the man himself in all his complexity, drawing on his vast correspondence and diaries.
Biographies can be a difficult genre, with writers getting bogged down in detail. The reader needs to be sufficiently invested in the subject, too. However, Hamilton writes beautifully and his style is so engaging that the pace of this mighty work clips along. Highly recommended.
Queen Elizabeth II: The Oral History
Released in time for the celebration of HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the American authors of this updated work draw on the oral accounts of people who have known her during her record-breaking reign. Contributions come from family members, politicians, diplomats, clerics and the aristocracy: Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Lady Pamela Hicks, Lord and Lady Longford, among others.
What emerges is an informative and hugely personal account of every aspect of The Queen’s life and reign, from family to foreign policy. We have biographer Philip Ziegler and Margaret Thatcher’s chief press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham, on Diana. And disgraced Liberal party leader Jeremy Thorpe and agony aunt Claire Rayner on the relationship between the monarch and Thatcher.
This is a great compilation of ideas and anecdotes, focusing on different aspects of The Queen’s life. A timely addition to the canon of royalist literature.
Mark Hearld: Raucous Invention
This vibrant book would be a welcome addition to any coffee table, though it’s much more than just an eye-catching array of graphics and pictures. It’s a jubilant celebration of art and nature, rich with detail and direction.
York-based Hearld is a celebrated painter and printmaker, who in fact works across a wider variety of mediums, taking his inspiration from the British countryside and animal kingdom. He has collaborated with, among others, Compton Verney, Tate Britain and St Jude. He describes himself as ‘evangelical’ about ‘learning to look’; his work can appear almost simple yet is simultaneously full of observation.
Here we have collages, linocut prints, textile designs and wallpaper, all drawing on Hearld’s manifest passion for the flora and fauna he observes around him as the seasons roll by. From the Bruegelinspired collage Hounds in the Snow to timid deer and bounding hares, the images are strong and full of vim.