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The Book of Pebbles
Why do we pick up pebbles on the beach? What is it we see in them, and why do we take them home to display on our shelves? Is it their inherent beauty, their infinite variation, or simply their associations with a happy time and place?
In our latest book - part social history and part practical guide - writer and pebble collector Christopher Stocks unearths the sometimes surprising story of our love-affair with pebbles, and considers how the way we see them today has been influenced over the years by artists, authors and even archaeologists.
Printmaker Angie Lewin is widely admired for her alluringly stylish images of the natural world. She celebrates the experience of walking and sketching along the British coastline, often incorporating pebbles in her limited edition prints and paintings. Many of these feature in the book alongside a series of new images.
In our latest book - part social history and part practical guide - writer and pebble collector Christopher Stocks unearths the sometimes surprising story of our love-affair with pebbles, and considers how the way we see them today has been influenced over the years by artists, authors and even archaeologists.
Printmaker Angie Lewin is widely admired for her alluringly stylish images of the natural world. She celebrates the experience of walking and sketching along the British coastline, often incorporating pebbles in her limited edition prints and paintings. Many of these feature in the book alongside a series of new images.
116 pages, Hardcover
Published February 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 9, 2020
A lovely little book and a quick read. There are 44 pieces of work by Angie Lewin, these aren't just little sketches dotted throughout the book, these are proper pieces of artwork, some are spread across both pages. I particularly liked the linocuts, so much detail in the image, you could gaze at them for ages.
Christopher Stocks gives us a history of our love of pebbles, a lot of the focus is based on artists and collectors and how it was them spotting the beauty in the pebbles and increased their popularity. He includes how the pebbles are made, the different types and the best places to spot them...included is a warning to keep an eye out for signs stating not to remove pebbles.
When on a stony beach I am always on the lookout for a awesome looking pebble, especially looking for that elusive Hag Stone. Every now and then I've found a red pebble that is of an odd texture, softer than the standard pebble...turns out it is from an old brick, crazy eh?
Due to reading this book I've added two places to my list of days out, Chesil Beach an amazing stretch of beach to go pebble hunting and Kettle's Yard a museum with a blend of art and pebbles that would be fascinating to see.
A beautiful book giving you an introduction to the world of pebbles.
Blog Review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
Christopher Stocks gives us a history of our love of pebbles, a lot of the focus is based on artists and collectors and how it was them spotting the beauty in the pebbles and increased their popularity. He includes how the pebbles are made, the different types and the best places to spot them...included is a warning to keep an eye out for signs stating not to remove pebbles.
When on a stony beach I am always on the lookout for a awesome looking pebble, especially looking for that elusive Hag Stone. Every now and then I've found a red pebble that is of an odd texture, softer than the standard pebble...turns out it is from an old brick, crazy eh?
Due to reading this book I've added two places to my list of days out, Chesil Beach an amazing stretch of beach to go pebble hunting and Kettle's Yard a museum with a blend of art and pebbles that would be fascinating to see.
A beautiful book giving you an introduction to the world of pebbles.
Blog Review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
October 13, 2021
A charming book for anyone who can't help picking up the interesting rocks and pebbles they find along the way. It turns out there's a lot of us! And there are scientists and artists in our company. Some of us may even become scientists or artists because of our appreciation for the beauty of these little objects.
A lovely book in every way. Writing, illustrations, inspirations!
(Thank you, you-know-who!)
A lovely book in every way. Writing, illustrations, inspirations!
(Thank you, you-know-who!)
March 15, 2022
As I sit writing this review, in front of my computer screen is a collection of pebbles and other stones that have been collected from a number of local beaches and some from holidays. I have a couple of pikes of the pink Jersey granite and some Sicilian marble as well as fossils from Seatown Beach on the other side of Dorset.
Seatown Beach is at the very far end of the tombolo beach that is Chesil. It is this beach that Christopher Stocks begins the book with and it is a beach that he knows well as he has a house alongside it. The section of the beach that he is lives near is the eastern end where the pebbles are at their largest and he can hear them being made as they are churned around in the waves.
The book will take us from this wonderful beach the beach that Derek Jarman on the bleak Dungeness headland, the old Iron age hill fort of maiden Castle and even to the Natural History Museum and a rogue hand grenade.
Stocks’ prose is conversational and relaxed. He has picked his subjects well and has found lots of interesting anecdotes and has managed to get the balance of providing enough information about the geology of the pebbles that you are likely to find on the beach without making it read like an academic tome. However, what makes this short book so special is Angie Lewin’s beautiful artwork throughout the book. I had got this from the library, but as I like it so much I think I am going to get a copy of my own. You can find her artwork here.
Seatown Beach is at the very far end of the tombolo beach that is Chesil. It is this beach that Christopher Stocks begins the book with and it is a beach that he knows well as he has a house alongside it. The section of the beach that he is lives near is the eastern end where the pebbles are at their largest and he can hear them being made as they are churned around in the waves.
The book will take us from this wonderful beach the beach that Derek Jarman on the bleak Dungeness headland, the old Iron age hill fort of maiden Castle and even to the Natural History Museum and a rogue hand grenade.
Stocks’ prose is conversational and relaxed. He has picked his subjects well and has found lots of interesting anecdotes and has managed to get the balance of providing enough information about the geology of the pebbles that you are likely to find on the beach without making it read like an academic tome. However, what makes this short book so special is Angie Lewin’s beautiful artwork throughout the book. I had got this from the library, but as I like it so much I think I am going to get a copy of my own. You can find her artwork here.
July 1, 2020
Precis innan jag lämnade London återöppnade vår lokala bokhandel Sheen Bookshop och jag gick in för att leta efter något riktigt somrigt. Et voilà, en vacker bok om strandens stenar.
Riktad till en anglofil publik främst kanske; i flera passager kan man riktigt höra dånet vid Chesil Beach. Den lilla ön där, Portland, är en av mina favoritplatser i UK och jag skulle gärna leva där en längre tid vid tillfälle.
Andra texter handlar om Derek Jarmans Dungeness eller världsmästerskapet i att kasta smörgås. Gillar den opretentiösa ansatsen. Ett kapitel kallas t.ex. "Some beaches". Oerhört vackra illustrationer på ca varannat uppslag gör den till en fin presentbok.
Riktad till en anglofil publik främst kanske; i flera passager kan man riktigt höra dånet vid Chesil Beach. Den lilla ön där, Portland, är en av mina favoritplatser i UK och jag skulle gärna leva där en längre tid vid tillfälle.
Andra texter handlar om Derek Jarmans Dungeness eller världsmästerskapet i att kasta smörgås. Gillar den opretentiösa ansatsen. Ett kapitel kallas t.ex. "Some beaches". Oerhört vackra illustrationer på ca varannat uppslag gör den till en fin presentbok.
December 27, 2023
A beautiful book that digs in to the attraction of pebbles, why we seek them the attraction they hold and the connection we feel. Lovely art, a pleasure to dip in & out of.
June 13, 2019
I cannot recall exactly how I discovered this book. I think I was looking for the gallery that sells Gail Brodholt's linocuts and discovered St. Jude's Prints, which featured this book on its main page. I was enchanted. The woodcut and linocut art isn't exactly to my tastes, but I had to buy this sweet clothbound book (which I wish were an option among the Goodreads bindings list). I recalled my mom's penchant for picking up rocks on her travels. Rocks, not pebbles. My dad often feared they'd be arrested while collecting Mom's preferred souvenirs. This recalled my trip to Cambridge in March, because it references John Ede and Kettle's Yard, which I wanted to see but my one day there didn't allow time. (When traveling with another, you have to let the other occasionally choose the activity, or you do if you want to travel amicably with another.) The book is like a stream of conscious, linking various pebble-inspired folks and linking them in unexpected ways. John Ede and Derek Jarman, who knew. I don't know much about Barbara Hepworth, but now I now she and Ben Nicholson fell in love. We look not only at artists but scientists. Stocks and Lewin made an appointment with Peter Tandy, geologist at the Natural History Museum. The description (62-68) starts with Stocks's disappointment that his pebbles cannot be identified without destroying them and ends with an amusing anecdote about Tandy's attempts to identify a specimen brought in by a member of the public leading to a call of the bomb squad. References to Dolmens and John Berger also led me down rabbit holes I happily burrowed this rainy morning. Combined with conjuring good memories of my parents makes for a 5-star review, although I conceded that's a very personal review.
p. 104 "Right at the start [p. 17] I said that at night I I could listen to pebbles being made, but it would be more accurate to say that I hear them being destroyed.
p. 104 "Right at the start [p. 17] I said that at night I I could listen to pebbles being made, but it would be more accurate to say that I hear them being destroyed.
December 26, 2020
A tiny tactile treasure, fascinating and beautiful in equal measure.
January 13, 2022
Not my usual choice of book; a recommendation from Ian C. A quick and pleasant read, and the artwork is lovely. I have a habit of picking up interesting looking pebbles, so I will have to look at my collection with fresh eyes.
March 29, 2023
Lovely book with beautiful art work. As one of the many who has a small pebble shelf and having a fascination for rocks this was always going to strike the right chords .
May 20, 2021
An ode to a pebble =) This is a nice, calming little book reflecting on pebbles and the compulsion of the beachcomber (something I recognise strongly!). I hadn't actually realised though that pebble picking off a beach is illegal since 1949. Which might at first thought seem ridiculous - the world will not end if I take one pebble home with me. But as the rest of the world has as many rights as you, suddenly ten thousand tourists all taking one pebble home can make a big difference. They worry about it at Chessil Beach, where they don't think a new supply of pebbles is eventually coming in.
But fear not, it's not that serious a book. It's like a series of short little articles reflecting on pebbles - the artistic, with dibbles into the worlds of Picasso, Hepworth, Moore and Derek Jarman - the archaeological, a little geological, and other randomness. Why do we do it? They even go to the Natural History Museum in London to meet with the, as then, director of mineralogy, Peter Tandy who is "enthusiastically bearded" (what a description!) and tells them tales of pebbles and how people are always turning up wanting him to identify their treasures. Because of the sea-worn exterior, the only way to really tell exactly what it is, is to smash it open. Once a man came with a meteorite he'd found in Italy, with something rattling inside. He shook it beside Peter Tandy's ear. Turns out it was a rusted Italian hand grenade....
The book is short, so it isn't exhaustive on the subject of pebbles, and if you're wanting a pebble hunting guide/identification book, this isn't it. But it is full of calming thoughts and reads, when you don't want anything too heavy (only light pebbles today please). There's also a list of suggested beaches around the UK to go ponder on pebbles and the like. Oh, and the words are accompanied by all this beautiful beachcombing art by Angie Lewin - all lino cuts and wood cuts and watercolours. Just pebble happiness.
But fear not, it's not that serious a book. It's like a series of short little articles reflecting on pebbles - the artistic, with dibbles into the worlds of Picasso, Hepworth, Moore and Derek Jarman - the archaeological, a little geological, and other randomness. Why do we do it? They even go to the Natural History Museum in London to meet with the, as then, director of mineralogy, Peter Tandy who is "enthusiastically bearded" (what a description!) and tells them tales of pebbles and how people are always turning up wanting him to identify their treasures. Because of the sea-worn exterior, the only way to really tell exactly what it is, is to smash it open. Once a man came with a meteorite he'd found in Italy, with something rattling inside. He shook it beside Peter Tandy's ear. Turns out it was a rusted Italian hand grenade....
The book is short, so it isn't exhaustive on the subject of pebbles, and if you're wanting a pebble hunting guide/identification book, this isn't it. But it is full of calming thoughts and reads, when you don't want anything too heavy (only light pebbles today please). There's also a list of suggested beaches around the UK to go ponder on pebbles and the like. Oh, and the words are accompanied by all this beautiful beachcombing art by Angie Lewin - all lino cuts and wood cuts and watercolours. Just pebble happiness.
August 14, 2021
I wouldn’t usually purchase and read a book like this, I’d maybe flick through and admire the artwork, skimming the odd paragraph, but I was gifted this book from a bookshop(*) owner I met in Grantown-on-Spey in Scotland and felt driven to complete it (which sounds silly to say because it is a short and easy read).
I found it inspiring, as another artist, to hear the depths of thought and research that you can pull out of a subject that visually intrigues you - especially when many other artists have been inspired by the same subject, each translating it in different styles. I had absolutely no expectations of the book, and didn’t expect it to leave me thinking philosophically, but I’d just like to thank the lady who gave me it and has motivated me to continue drawing and documenting and most importantly, reading.
(*) the bookshop is called the bookmark - which I would recommend to anyone visiting around that area.
I found it inspiring, as another artist, to hear the depths of thought and research that you can pull out of a subject that visually intrigues you - especially when many other artists have been inspired by the same subject, each translating it in different styles. I had absolutely no expectations of the book, and didn’t expect it to leave me thinking philosophically, but I’d just like to thank the lady who gave me it and has motivated me to continue drawing and documenting and most importantly, reading.
(*) the bookshop is called the bookmark - which I would recommend to anyone visiting around that area.
October 19, 2021
I was delighted to find what a charming pairing, Christopher Stocks' words and Angie Lewin's images make. This is an excellent book. Absolutely stuffed to the rafters with full, colour illustrations and glorious chapters by Stocks that run the gamut from the science of what makes rocks to where the most unusual rocks in the British Isles are to be found. This is more of a wander through someone's obsession than a hard hitting, scientific treatise and it is all the better for it. It is one of those books you find yourself dipping into time and again. I've had it on my desk now for more than a month and although I read it cover to cover when I first bought it, I find myself returning to it over and over again, either to rediscover a phrase or idea from the text or because I want to look again at the wonderful illustrations.
December 28, 2021
A beautifully illustrated short book (collection of short essays) about the idea of pebbles as art (and more prosaically ornaments), with reference to Picasso, Hepworth, Moore, Kettles Yard in Cambridge and Derek Jarman’s Dungeness garden.
This is supplemented with a very short chapter on different types of pebbles (no photographs, so not very useful, and Stocks refers to the recently republished The Pebbles on the Beach: A Spotter's Guide) and a brief chapter on a few good beaches in the UK to collect pebbles.
It only provides a couple of hours reading, but I enjoyed this slight book as it is a satisfying combination of illustrations and short essays.
This is supplemented with a very short chapter on different types of pebbles (no photographs, so not very useful, and Stocks refers to the recently republished The Pebbles on the Beach: A Spotter's Guide) and a brief chapter on a few good beaches in the UK to collect pebbles.
It only provides a couple of hours reading, but I enjoyed this slight book as it is a satisfying combination of illustrations and short essays.
October 22, 2021
A book that is both beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. I shall keep this on my bedside table to dip into every now and then when I went to 'feel' the joy of walking along a quiet beach listening to the sounds of the sea and picking up interesting looking pebbles and shells. The book is very much about the British isles but anyone anywhere who enjoys beachcombing will enjoy this book.
July 18, 2021
A beautiful short book or long essay, gorgeously illustrated. A must read for beachcombers. I particularly enjoyed the Natural History Museum Story & that definitions and descriptions were towards the end not the start
April 20, 2021
A beautifully illustrated little book about pebbles and why we love them.
July 20, 2023
beautiful and inspiring art and just such a lovely book for a pebble lover like me :)
October 5, 2023
A beautiful book. Perfect to read at the seaside. Quick to read and beautifully illustrated. 😍
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews