Margaret Willes approaches history with the eye of an editor and publisher, bringing a unique perspective to her explorations of the past. Her work delves into societal norms and daily life across different eras, illuminating the intricacies of human experience. Willes crafts compelling narratives that breathe life into historical scenes and characters, marked by a keen sense of detail and atmosphere.
Finer points of husbandry -- Vital remedies -- Working gardeners -- A passion for flowers -- Two nations -- Hard times -- Climbing the wall -- Sources of inspiration -- The spirit of competition -- Revolutions in taste -- Digging for victory in peace and war -- Homes and gardens -- Ancient and modern -- A nation of gardeners.
This book shows how various plants were used for cooking and brewing, medicines and cosmetics, in the making and care of clothes, and finally to keep rooms fresh, fragrant and decorated during the seventeenth-century. Richly illustrated, it provides an intriguing and original focus on the domestic history of Stuart England.
An entertaining journey through five centuries of acquiring, reading, and enjoying books in Britain and America It is easy to forget in our own day of cheap paperbacks and mega-bookstores that, until very recently, books were luxury items. Those who could not afford to buy had to borrow, share, obtain secondhand, inherit, or listen to others reading. This book examines how people acquired and read books from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the personal relationships between readers and the volumes they owned. Margaret Willes considers a selection of private and public libraries across the period--most of which have survived--showing the diversity of book owners and borrowers, from country-house aristocrats to modest farmers, from Regency ladies of leisure to working men and women. Exploring the collections of avid readers such as Samuel Pepys, Thomas Jefferson, Sir John Soane, Thomas Bewick, and Denis and Edna Healey, Margaret Willes also investigates the means by which books were sold, lending fascinating insights into the ways booksellers and publishers marketed their wares. For those who are interested in books and reading, and especially those who treasure books, this book and its bounty of illustrations will inform, entertain, and inspire.
The extraordinary story of St. Paul's Churchyard-the area of London that was a center of social and intellectual life for more than a millennium
Packed with illustrations from the herbals, design treatises and practical manuals that inspired the gardeners of the century between the accession of Elizabeth I and the Restoration, this book charts how England's garden grew.
"Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn vividly reveal in their diaries and correspondence the world of Restoration England. Now Margaret Willes uses the analogy of a cabinet of curiosities to provide a detailed account not only of the two friends but also of their times. Pepys was down to earth and realistic, while Evelyn was a genteel aesthete, but, brought together by their work to help distressed sailors, they developed a long and close friendship. This was enriched by their mutual interest in all aspects of science, in travel and exploration at a time when the known world was rapidly expanding, and their love of books. Above all, they shared an inexhaustible curiosity. Both were on personal terms with the King and his ministers, and leading figures of the scientific, artistic and mercantile communities, so that they provide a very personal portrait of a friendship sustained through a time of war, catastrophe and revolution."--Provided by publisher.
The first complete history of Southwark, London's stubbornly independent community over the Thames Southwark's fortunes have always been tied to those of the City of London across the river. But from its founding in Roman times through to flourishing in the medieval era, the Borough has always fiercely asserted its independence. A place of licence, largely free of the City's jurisdiction, Southwark became a constant thorn in London's side: an administrative anachronism, a commercial rival, and an asylum for undesirable industries and residents. In this remarkable history of London's liberty beyond the bridge, Margaret Willes narrates the life and times of the people of Southwark, capturing the Borough's anarchic spirit of revelry. Populated by a potent mix of talented immigrants, religious dissenters, theatrical folk, brewers, and sex workers, Southwark often escaped urban jurisdiction--giving it an atmosphere of danger, misrule, and artistic freedom. Tracing Southwark's history from its Roman foundation to its present popularity as a place to visit, through Chaucer, to Shakespeare, and on to Dickens, Willes offers an indispensable exploration of the City's unacknowledged mirror image.