Gabriel Hemery's Blog: Gabriel Hemery, page 34

What is your favourite tree book?

In advance of the exhibitions featuring The New Sylva opening in April at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and the National Botanic Garden of Wales, RBGE have launched a campaign to find the nation’s favourite tree books. One lucky winner, drawn from the nominations, will receive a copy of The New Sylva. To find out more click here

 

Botanic gardens and arboreta to help celebrate 350th anniversary of Sylva

We are delighted to announce that gardens and arboreta across the UK and Ireland will be celebrating with us to mark the 350th anniversary of the publication in 1664 of John Evelyn’s classic book Sylva: or, a discourse of forest trees and the propagation of timber in his Majesty’s dominions.

The following information was posted recently by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh:

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The occasion will be marked with exhibitions and events that bring this discourse up-to-date. Heading these celebrations is The New Sylva ‒ a new book published by Bloomsbury, written by Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet. During 2014 the central messages about the importance of trees and the remarkable drawings made for the book will feature in exhibitions, interpretation panels and window displays across the country.

Exhibitions of Sarah Simblet’s remarkable pen-and-ink drawings featuring individual tree portraits, woodland scenes and life-sized illustrations of leaves, fruits and flowers will be presented at botanic gardens in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. Each drawing will be accompanied by informative text written by Gabriel Hemery. Visitors to the exhibitions will also be able to find out more about John Evelyn and his Sylva. Two arboreta without exhibition spaces have agreed to take part with Sylva-themed interpretative panels displayed alongside the appropriate trees in their collections.

This is the first time that prominent botanic gardens in Britain and Ireland have participated in a joint venture of this nature. Each venue is preparing an individual programme of activities which includes talks, drawing workshops, guided walks and family activities. The gardens involved are being encourage to record these events so that at the end of the project we can organise a sharing of ideas and inspiration for future programmes. It is anticipated that the number of participants involved in visiting the exhibitions or engaging with the activities programme will exceed 100,000 during the course of the year.

There is probably no point in the last 350 years when trees have featured so prominently in the consciousness of ordinary people nor a time when the future of forests in the British Isles looked so rosy. The benefits to be gained from diverse and productive woodlands are not simply economic but including the positive effects they have on the health and wellbeing. Sylva recognises this growing interest for trees and forests and resurgence activity in our woodlands in an original way and we invite support from everybody who shares this passion for trees to celebrate with us.

Read more at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s website

Dates at the confirmed venues will be announced here soon.

Final steps in the preparation of The New Sylva

The New Sylva dummy book on the Senior Editor’s book shelf at Bloomsbsury Publishing

This week Gabriel Hemery has been at Bloomsbury Publishing in London, going over the final proofreading markup. It was a great to see a dummy of the book, complete with a cover, on the book shelves of Senior Editor Natalie Bellos (nee Hunt) alongside other recently published Bloomsbury works.

A sampler has been produced, which is used to promote the book to the press, book reviewers and others. It includes a few selected sections from the book (Contents, To the Reader, Of the Willow, Of the Hazel, and The Authors), wrapped in the cover and printed at full scale. We hope to show you a copy here soon.

Meanwhile Sarah Simblet has been completing the last remaining drawings.  She will be soon meeting with reproduction specialists to oversee the precise printing specifications for every one of the 200 spreads (400 pages) to ensure that all the drawings are reproduced at the highest possible standard.

The decision has been made by Bloomsbury to print in Europe (Spain) rather than the Far East. Although a more expensive option this has provided a greater choice of paper in terms of quality and FSC grade, it will allow a closer personal oversight of the production by Bloomsbury staff, and, if needed in the future, will permit quicker reprint times. Finally, this decision has meant that the deadline for going to print has been moved back from December to mid January, allowing more time to complete remaining tasks. The publication date remains 10th April 2014.

Limited first edition planned for The New Sylva

A very special limited first edition of The New Sylva is being considered by Bloomsbury Publishing. The authors are pleased to provide a unique opportunity for all readers of our blog to sign up to receive advanced notice of its release.

The limited edition will interest bibliophiles, book collectors, fans of artist Sarah Simblet, and anyone with a special interest in trees and forests. Not only could you make a wise investment, or endow a fantastic gift to a special friend, but your purchase will help support Britain’s trees and forests:- all profits from its sale will go to tree and forestry charity the Sylva Foundation.

Details of the special edition, in terms of the contents and price, will be announced here soon. If you are interested in receiving advanced notice, you can use the form below to sign up.

The New Sylva features in a Christmas card

Tree and forestry charity, the Sylva Foundation (sponsor of The New Sylva), has produced a beautiful card in time for Christmas.

The front image was photographed by author Gabriel Hemery, and features artist and co-author Sarah Simblet walking in the Caledonian pinewood at Black Wood, when both authors undertook a drawing expedition there this time last year to feature the majestic Scots pines. The back of the card provides an insight into the history and importance of ancient pinewoods.

The card is available to purchase online from the Sylva Foundation’s shop. All proceeds go to their charitable work: reviving Britain’s wood culture.

[image error]
[image error]

Book cover design revealed

The New Sylva book cover

Proofreading and indexing underway

Gabriel Hemery’s notes during copy-editing The New Sylva

October was a busy month: copy-editing was completed and the book design finalised, including the cover. The book has been listed on the website of Bloomsbury Publishing (read more) and can be found on the websites of most major book sellers for preorder, including Amazon and Waterstones.

There now remains about one month until the book is sent to the printers. During November the manuscript will be checked by a professional proofreader and separately, the index prepared by a specialist indexer. Fourteen pages have been planned for the index of The New Sylva to allow for a comprehensive section to guide readers. We hope to return to this subject in more detail in a future post.

The authors will be undertaking a final read through and be ready to respond to any queries raised by the editorial team.

The New Sylva is listed by Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing have now listed The New Sylva on their website.

We can reveal for the first time the list price of £40.00. Launch date in the UK is 10th April 2014, while in the US the book will be available from July. The ISBN is 9781408835449.

Full details from Bloomsbury Publishing:

Published:
10-04-2014


Format:
Hardback


Edition:
1st


Extent:
400pp.


ISBN:
9781408835449


Imprint:
Bloomsbury Publishing


Dimensions:
290 x 245 mm


RRP:
£40.00


Online price:
£36.00

The New Sylva takes shape

Earlier this week the authors were invited to a final meeting with designers Grade Design in London. Two significant steps forward were made in visualising The New Sylva.Click to view slideshow.

We inspected the dummy; a complete copy of the book made up in its final shape. Consisting of the same paper that will be used in the published book, and with a similar binding (quarter-bound and sewn in 12 page bundles), it provided a first real sense of The New Sylva book; how it will feel in the hand, open for reading and stand on a shelf. The book will consist of 400 pages measuring approximately 290x245mm and will be about 34mm in thickness.

Senior Editor Natalie Hunt unveiled, to huge anticipation, some cover designs. After  discussion and a few adjustments, a reworked final design was arrived at, that all the team were really pleased with. The next day it was approved by executives at Bloomsbury Publishing. We look forward to sharing the cover design with our blog readers as soon as we are able.

Authors to speak at Oxford event – 30th November

Authors Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet will both be speaking about The New Sylva at an event to be held in Oxford on 30th November.

The one day course, hosted the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, is being co-organised by forestry charity The Sylva Foundation. The day course is open for anyone with an interest in trees and woodlands.

England’s woodlands have provided for our needs for many centuries, leading to a strong culture of appreciating and using wood, however in recent decades their care and management has declined. Additionally our woodlands are now facing unprecedented threats from environmental change, pests and diseases. Some have heralded 2013 as a turning point for the fortunes of English Woodlands. Hear and discuss how a revival of a ‘wood culture’ in England may lead to sustainable woodlands and greater quality of home-grown timber products.

Gabriel Hemery will talk about the work of John Evelyn in the 17th Century and the writing of The New Sylva to be published in 2014. A later session by co-author and artist Sarah Simblet, from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, will follow the making of 200 botanical, tree and forestscape drawings made especially for the book. They will be joined by TV presenter and journalist Robert Penn who will talk of his latest project honouring the ash tree in Britain. Nick Brown from Oxford University will explain the vital role of research carried out in woodlands owned by the university. The Sylva Foundation’s Alistair Yeomans will explain the role of the Good Woods project and how B&Q have injected financial support and enthusiasm into improving the condition of England’s trees and forests.

Book online

Places are limited. For more information about the course and to took book your place, click here.