Volume 3, Issue 12
Winter show and sale of artisan works
on through December 23

Visit the library between now and December 23rd to see and purchase unique pieces from local artists and crafters. This year we're featuring Dorothy Crandell's natural stone bead necklaces, Joel Bidnick's bottled living wetlands, Jenny Craig's clever and quirky letterpress pieces, Molly Hashimoto's nature-inspired prints and cards, and Joan Helbacka's hand-bound notebooks (pictured at left).

With a selection that's diverse in style, theme, medium, and price, there is truly something for everyone at this year's craft and gift sale. When you support these local artisans, you'll also be helping the library: a full twenty-five percent of proceeds support the Miller Library. Thank you!

Wild Flowers of the Undercliff, Isle of Wight
and the mystery of C. and M. Parkinson
investigative librarianship by Rebecca Alexander

The Miller Library receives many donations of books each year, and sometimes we open a box and a particular book enchants us. A recent example is a small volume entitled Wild Flowers of the Undercliff, Isle of Wight, published in London in 1881. ... The authors, Charlotte O'Brien and C. Parkinson, hoped the book would enable temporary residents of the Undercliff to acquaint themselves with the various plants blooming throughout the year. ...

I was troubled by the lack of a first name for the co-author, and curious about the note in the preface in which the two authors thank "Miss Parkinson" for her colored drawings [8 plates] that illustrate the book. Our copy of the book was inscribed by M. Parkinson. ... Who were these nameless Parkinsons, I wondered, wanting to give bibliographic credit where it was due.

I asked assistance from a friend who is a gardener and genealogist in England, and she found a reference to an article by David E. Allen (affiliated with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland), "C. Parkinson, A mystery Wight Botanist identified," which was published in the 2009 proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History & Archaeological Society. We could not obtain a copy, and that made both of us even more eager to solve the mystery.

The initials F.G.S. after Parkinson's name on the book's title page might stand for 'Fellow of the Geological Society,' and that led to a discovery of an obituary for a "Cyril Parkinson" in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London Vol 26 (1920): "Cyril Parkinson was born at Hesgreave [Hexgreave] Park, near Southwell (Nottinghamshire), and died in London on August 20th, 1919, at the age of 65. During five years' residence in the Isle of Wight (1875-80) he made a collection of fossils, which was acquired by the British Museum (Natural History). ...

Now that I had birth and death dates and a first name, I used genealogy resources like Ancestry.com and found that Cyril had a sister Marian who lived with him for a time, and she was undoubtedly the illustrator whose signature is in our copy. Census records indicate that she was a woman of "private means," and this squares with the family's history as landed gentry with their own coat of arms. ...

It is very satisfying to list the full names of the co-author and illustrator in the bibliographic record for this book. I would love to discover whether Marian Parkinson illustrated any other botany books, but that is still a mystery.

This is an excerpt. Read Rebecca's full account in our online Gardening Answers Knowledgebase.

New for Children:
When Green Becomes Tomatoes
recommended by Laura Blumhagen

Do you read poems with the children in your life? Whether they are already poetry lovers or you would like to raise their consciousness about poetry, Julie Fogliano’s When Green Becomes Tomatoes is a gift with year-round appeal. Get ready for any weather as you enjoy the lyrical quality of these illustrated seasonal poems with outdoor themes, from harvesting tomatoes to admiring winter trees. One example: “february 3: with snowy arms sagging/the spruce seemed to know/that beautiful outweighs the snow.”

Set against a backdrop of expansive illustrations by Julie Morstad, these spare poems evoke universal moments of wonder from childhood.

New to the Library