Cathedral Cats [Hardcover]

Richard Surman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

This appealing little book forms a group portrait of some of the most privileged cats in Britain. Their homes could not be more ancient or splendid. They are admired by thousands of tourists. They have the run of roofs and vaults, nooks and crannies, cloisters and choirs. Photographer Richard Surman has traveled to dozens of Britain’s great churches and cathedrals to record these ecclesiastical felines, and each photo is accompanied by a pen portrait of the cat and its particular eccentricities. There is Biggles, for example, feline tyrant of Westminster Abbey, who was issued an official warning by the police after mauling a constable’s trousers! Such is the stuff of this irresistible book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A beautiful coffee table book with superb photography of cats in some rather special surroundings, together with stories about each of their lovely characters.' Your Cat Magazine Praise for Church Cats -- 'A fascinating compilation of true stories about cats of an ecclesiastical persuasion' Catworld

From the Publisher

This book, and a companion volume "The Times Book of Church Cats" (ISBN: 0006281230), form a group portrait of some of the most privileged cats in Britain. Their homes could not be more ancient or more splendid. They are admired by thousands of tourists. There is hardly a door or a window that is closed to them. They have the run of roofs and vaults, nooks and crannies, cloisters and choirs. Photographer Richard Surman has traveled to dozens of Britain's great churches and cathedrals to record these ecclesiastical felines, and each photo is accompanied by a pen portrait of the cat and its particular eccentricities. There is Biggles, for example, feline tyrant of Westminster Abbey, who was issued an official warning by the police after mauling a constable's trousers! Such is the stuff of these two irresistible books. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007182805
• ISBN-13: 978-0007182800
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anglophilic ailurophiles rejoice!, December 3, 2005

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cathedral Cats (Hardcover)

I bought this book for a friend who wasn't able to go cathedral hopping with me last summer in Great Britain and Ireland. When I returned home, I tried to explain to her that cathedral cats are more purposeful than our 'ordinary' lap cats--they have serious matters to contemplate such as fifteenth century pulpitums and the cathedral gardener's pet snake. I gave her this book to prove my point.

The writing style is heavily British tongue-in-cheek, which keeps the book from mawkishness. Here is an example concerning Olsen, a Siamese chocolate point newcomer at Chester Cathedral: "After introducing himself around the cathedral close, getting locked in the free-standing 1970s bell tower, and having had his application for the position of food taster in the retreat house kitchen turned down, Olsen was tempted to dismiss the religious life."

You may be wondering why a Siamese chocolate point would be named 'Olsen.' It is because of the cathedral's history: "Olsen and Hansen [an oriental red] are not the first Danes to make their presence felt in Chester. Vikings from Denmark and Norway swept through large areas of England in the ninth and tenth centuries..."

So this book feeds you a bit of English history through the eyes of its cathedral cats. The photographs are also a mix of cat and cathedral, mostly in color.

"Cathedral Cats" is definitely for ailurophiles only, especially if they also happen to be anglophiles.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surman opens our heart not only for cats, June 30, 2005

By 

FrizzText "frizz" (Wuppertal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cathedral Cats (Hardcover)

The British journalist Richard Surman has worked 27 years long as a professional photographer world-wide for advertising clients and airlines - now he retreated to Spain with his South American wife to rest - however he is still nostalgic remembering back to his ancient Old England lifestyle-roots, its old-venerable church walls, canons, organists - and their cats. So he not only lists some of the most beautiful cathedrals in the U.K., but also adds the life-history of the cats living there beneath people working behind old church-walls. "Cats don't belong to people, they belong to places ..." once Wright Morris said - Richard Surman now delivers the photographies desrcibing this axiom. For example the story of the cat TOMKINS, who is designated after a composer: when cats-"owner" Peter Nardone, organist and Director of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral begins to mistreat the organ practising J.S. Bach, "Tomkins makes his way hastily upstairs to the guest bedroom, clambers onto the bed and sticks his head under a pillow." But Tomkins on the other hand takes pains to be helpful: "He always calls when the newspapers come through the letter box - though this may have more to do with his habit of sleeping on the doormat than a deliberate policy of helpfulness." A second example for the authors humoristic writing-style: Olsen, the cat of the Bishop of Chester, the Rt Rev. Dr Peter Foster, and his Danish wife Elizabeth, - Olsen "was tempted to dismiss the religious life. He turned instead to the lure of nights in the city,..." ignored "warnings about 'drunks, vagabonds, ladies of the night and the worst elements of society". Olson every night "found the ideal surroundings for his inscrutable and laid-back style": the nearby Alexander's Jazz Theatre. Richard Surman opens our heart not only for cats, but also for the cosy country and church-lives - not poisened by big-urban-areas hectic, brings us near to a perception of a world, in which the time seems to stopp. This tiny book inexpensive and affectionately replaces an England vacation, if the purse is empty...