Mary's meadow and other tales of fields and flowers. By: Juliana Horatia Ewing, Illustrated By: Gordon Browne: (children's book ) Illustrated

by Juliana Horatia Ewing

Gordon Frederick Browne (15 April 1858 – 27 May 1932) was an English artist and children's book illustrator in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was born in Banstead, the younger son of notable book illustrator Hablot Knight Browne (who as "Phiz" illustrated books by Charles Dickens). He studied art at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and South Kensington Schools and started to receive professional commissions while still at college. From the 1880s, Browne was one of Britain's most prolific illustrators, his work appearing in newspapers, magazines and many books by children's authors including Frederic William Farrar, G.A. Henty, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Andrew Lang, Talbot Baines Reed, L. T. Meade, Catherine Christian and E. Nesbit. Browne worked in watercolour and pen and ink. He was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) and the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). Browne was an early member of the Society of Graphic Art and showed three works at their first exhibition in 1921. He died in Richmond, London in 1932............... Juliana Horatia Ewing (née Gatty) (3 August 1841 – 13 May 1885) was an English writer of children's stories. She displayed sympathetic insight into children's lives, admiration for things military, and strong religious faith. Youth and Known as Julie, she was the second of ten children of the Reverend Alfred Gatty, vicar of Ecclesfield in Yorkshire, and Margaret Gatty, who was herself a children's author. The children were educated mainly by her mother, but Julie was often the driving force behind their various drama, botany etc. Later she was responsible for setting up a village library in Ecclesfield and helped out in the parish with her three sisters. Early stories of hers appeared in Charlotte Yonge's magazine Monthly Packet. On 1 June 1867, she married Major Alexander Ewing (1830–1895) of the army pay department. He was also a keen churchgoer, who shared his wife's interest in literature. Within a week of their marriage, the Ewings left England for Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, where he had received a new posting. They remained there for two years, before returning to England in 1869 and spending eight years in the army town of Aldershot. Although her husband was sent overseas again, to Malta in 1879 and Sri Lanka in 1881, Ewing's poor health would not allow her to accompany him. The Ewings moved to Trull, Somerset, on his return in 1883, and in 1885, to Bath, in the hopes that the change of air would do her good. However, her health continued to deteriorate, and after two operations, she died there on 13 May 1885.She was given a military funeral at Trull three days later. Her sister Horatia Katharine Frances Gatty (1846–1945) published a memorial of Julie's life and works which includes a publication history of her stories. A later selection includes some of Julie's letters and drawings about Canada. A biography by Gillian Avery appeared in 1961......................

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Born in 1841, Juliana Horatia Gatty was the daughter of the Rev. Alfred Gatty, a Church of England vicar, and an author, and of Margaret Gatty, also an author. She was married to Major Alexander Ewing, of the British army pay department, in 1867, relocating with him to New Brunswick, Canada, for the first two years of their marriage. Although Major Ewing was posted abroad again, in 1879 and 1881, Mrs. Ewing was prevented from accompanying him by ill health. She moved to Bath in 1885, in the hopes that the change would improve her health, but she died there that same year.

Juliana Horatia Ewing - sometimes also styled Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing, or just "Mrs. Ewing" - is credited by Roger Lancelyn Green as being the author of the the "first outstanding child-novels" in English literature. In addition to her children's novels, Ewing also edited a number of magazines for young readers, including the Nursery Magazines (from 1856), the Monthly Packet and the monthly Aunt Judy's Magazine (both from 1866).

Reviews

[Nicole Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sure this was a popular book for children when it was published; it's just a little too hokey for me. As well, the language is indicative of the social views of the time, including racial terms that I despise.

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's only just over two weeks since I last read the title story but it is still just as sweet and charming. The other short stories are all sweet and charming too.

[MacKenzie Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I managed to come into ownership of an 1886 copy of this published by the Sunday School Union. It was a heartwarming story about a group of children's passion and love for gardening, almost like the Victorian version of "seed-bombing" that is popular today.

"I have given away several grafts of this ; far from deriving pleasure from the privation of others, I do my utmost to spread and render common and vulgar all the trees and plants I prefer ; it is as if I multiplied the pleasure and the chances of beholding them of all who, like me, really love flowers for their splendour, their grace, and their perfume. Those who, on the contrary, are jealous of their plants, and only esteem them in proportion with their conviction that no one else possesses them, do not love flowers ; and be assured that it is either chance or poverty which has made them collectors of flowers, instead of being collectors of pictures, cameos, medals, or any other thing that might serve as an excuse for indulging in all the joys of possession, seasoned with the idea that others do not possess.

I ramble about the country near my dwelling, and seek the wildest and least frequented spots. In these, after clearing and preparing a few inches of ground, I scatter the seeds of my most favourite plants, which re-sow themselves, perpetuate themselves, and multiply themselves. At this moment, whilst the fields display nothing but the common red poppy, strollers find with surprise in certain wild nooks of our country, the most beautiful double poppies, with their white, red, pink, carnation, and variegated blossoms."