An Island Garden Daybook

An Island Garden Daybook
by Celia Thaxter

with pictures
and illuminations
by Childe Hassam

Houghton Mifflin Company (1990)

[click to enlarge]

And so my strange little education continues, again courtesy of Goodwill, where I found this lovely hardcover in perfect-if-not-unread condition for a penny less than two dollars. The book is set up somewhat like a desk calendar; most pages have between three and five dates with horizontal space enough to write in, and there’s a generous margin beneath the month that’s partly filled with Thaxter’s thoughts, both practical and poetic:

It is curious that the leaf
should so love the light
and the root so hate it.

Inside the front and back covers, the plan for Thaxter’s garden is reproduced, along with a list of the fifty kinds of flowers she grew.


Update:
In the Forum: Racks & racks of strange fashions, old neck-ties, belts, pullover shirts, pants w/ gigantic middles.