Dear Readers, I wonder how many of you lovely people who are ‘of a certain age’ remember this book, published in 1965? My lovely Aunt R. in Canada has given me her copy, and it certainly brought back some memories. It isn’t exactly a field guide, being a bit too large to lump around, but it has some of the loveliest illustrations of plants that I’ve ever seen. At some point I shall delve into it in more detail, but for now, I thought I’d share some of the illustrations with you, and see if any of you had it on your bookshelf.
But first, inside the book there were these! These stamps were issued before decimalisation came to the UK in February 1971, and hark back to the time of 12 pennies in a shilling, and twenty shillings in a pound. I somehow wonder how we coped with the maths. And gosh, the price of postage has gone up, though so has everything else. I do love getting a letter, even today. An email somehow isn’t quite the same. These were apparently issued in 1967 and you can buy them today for a whole 75p (or 15 shillings if you’re being old school).
And now for a look inside the book. Enjoy!
I was 13 when it was published and was given a copy which I still treasure – and refer to.
I just love the illustrations!
Thank you for the reminder, that I grew up with KM before the handier size of Fitter became my go to. So beautifully realised & organised on the page.
Hey Alexandra, I had forgotten all about KM until my Aunt gave me her copy – I grew up with it too.
Aah – the serendipity of chances! I was in bed half asleep in the early morning today and lamenting (as so often) that when my husband and I rationalised our libraries (some years ago), it was his copy of this fine Keble Martin book that we kept – not the one my grandmother had given me after a wonderful holiday on Dartmoor. And my copy had those stamps stuck in it too! I just hope somebody else is treasuring it as I once did. Of course I shouldn’t be grumpy – I still have a copy of this Keble Martin treasury to consullt 🙂
It is a fact of nature that as soon as we give something away, we somehow find that we need it :-). How intriguing about the stamps! Do you think that all of the first edition ones had them in? I shall have to do some research.
When I started at Rolle teacher training college, a Collins flower book was on my required book list. My ‘mother’ (a third year student assigned to guide me through my first year) suggested that I got Keble Martin instead. Mine is a paperback and falling apart but I still refer to it. It is more detailed than my DK book that is an easy first reference.
I always think that you need books at several levels for ID, and KM is really great for looking at lots of plants that are closely related – I really like the bigger pages. I wonder how the plants have changed though? I shall have to have a look, and consider….
Oh yes Keble Martin is the plant bible for wildflowers I still refer to it…love the stamps too…I have a set of them from childhood days as well.
I have Keeble Martin, too – inherited from my parents. Isn’t it wonderful! Your post prompted me to bring it out from its bookshelf spot and enjoy those beautiful illustrations all over again.
So glad, Amanda! It is such a beautiful book…