Glorious Trees of Great Britain [Hardcover]

Piers Browne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2002

For over a decade, the artist Piers Browne has been recording the trees of Great Britain in etchings and drypoint. His inspiration was the onslaught of Dutch Elm disease, which decimated one of Britain's greatest native trees and changed the landscape dramatically.;Piers had followed his own idiosyncratic eye. This volume includes trees of all kinds: the oldest, the tallest, the most unusual, the joyous, the eye-catching and the historical as well as the finest of many species. He includes Killarney's extraordinary evergreen Strawberry Tree, Drumlanrig's vast Sycamore, one of the largest in Europe, a towering but incongruous Eucalyptus, and a Hickory standing alone on the Giant's Causeway. In the heart of England he captures among others the skyscraper Noble Fir and a little-known Oak with one of the largest trunks in the world. Hills and mountains are inspiring backdrops to many of the trees illustrated here and many have historical associations with such as Walter Scott, Coleridge, Milton and Hogarth. This book is a celebration of the tree through the eyes of an artist who has had a close affinity with nature all his life.Eact section is introduced by David Bellamy, and each tree is accompanied by prose selected by Piers Browne, or by a poem specially commissioned by him for his book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Trees sustain life on earth. Without them mankind would cease to exist. Yet large numbers of misguided and greedy people across the world continue to decimate forests and woods for material reasons. As both HRH Prince Charles and Professor Bellamy state in their respective preface and introduction, this has to stop to give the planet the chance to survive. It was this destruction and the terrible scourge of Dutch Elm Disease which reshaped the British landscape that inspired celebrated artist Piers Browne to record trees of all kinds using both etchings and drypoint. This impressive book is not only a visual celebration of British (and other non-native) trees, it is an informative work full of the trees history, folklore and literary influence. Accompanied by extracts from Wordsworth, Betjeman, du Maurier and more, it is soon clear to see the importance of these "Time Lords", as Bellamy aptly calls the trees, on our everyday living and culture. Not just a coffee table book, it is an education in the importance of maintaining these giants of nature for future generations to enjoy. - Lucy Watson

About the Author

Piers Browne followed a classical path through the Byam Shaw and Royal Academy Schools, travelled widely in Europe, Africa - sometimes on foot - Iceland, Poland, Java and so on yet always found his abiding theme of beauty of the natural world seen in lovely ligt. Although he paints some very large oils, it is in coloured etchings and montone dyrpoints that the intensity of his expression, as reproduced from original prints in this book, is best shown.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 189 pages
• Publisher: John Murray (October 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719560357
• ISBN-13: 978-0719560354
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,112,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)