I wonder if you are familiar with the term ‘slightly foxed’. It is frequently used by sellers of second hand books and refers to the gingery, freckle like marks that can appear on the pages of a book, usually near the spine. They are caused by deterioration in the quality of the paper, damp and generally old age.
I do occasionally buy oldish, second hand books but my interest in the phrase is largely due to it being the name of a literary quarterly review that has become dear to my heart. The warning comes now: if your reading tastes are made up of blockbusters and bestsellers then, I’m not judging, but this publication is probably not going to be for you.
Totally independent, the review offers interesting articles by a wide variety of writers on books and authors of which they are particularly fond. These often languish on the back lists of publishing houses and are not on the shelves of high street book shops, some actually being out of print. Sometimes these articles remind me of books I read long ago, and occasionally actually already have and at other times I find things that are completely new to me. Slightly Foxed also publishes a small list of books which are exquisite before you have ever read a word. They offer good quality cream paper and are beautifully cloth bound in subtle colours with toning endpapers. Altogether a joy.
Their first offering, way back in 2004 was a memoir by the author Rosemary Sutcliff called Blue Remembered Hills, obviously referencing AE Houseman’s A Shropshire Lad. I read Sutcliff’s books as a child, particularly enjoying the sequence of stories set in Roman occupied early Britain, beginning with The Eagle of the Ninth. They are so well written that they defy the boundaries of labels and are simply good reads for adults or children.
Of late I have enjoyed Drawn from Memory and Drawn from Life by Ernest Shepard (he of the famous illustrations belonging to Pooh Bear and Mole and Ratty). He writes of a rather golden Edwardian childhood in London , an impecunious and happy start to married life and a career that involved cartoons for Punch as well as the illustrations that eventually brought him fame.
And there was also The Past Is Myself by Christabel Bielenberg, a fascinating account of life in wartime Germany by someone who totally renounced everything the Nazi party stood for … and eventually of course had to leave.
The latest Slightly Foxed publication is Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford. I haven’t bought or read this book yet but I know enough about the Mitfords to be sure that it will be funny and probably consist of fact that is stranger than fiction.
In the autumn edition of the review there is an enticing essay about the books of Rosamund Lehmann which certainly makes me want to seek out her work. So, maybe you are getting the picture that Slightly Foxed is always interesting, frequently stretches my brain and takes my reading off into all sorts of unexpected pathways and now and again makes me laugh.
During the lockdown, exploring their website, I also came across their podcasts. These are like sitting around the kitchen table talking with a group of bookish friends and a pot of tea. I don’t have a kitchen table so I sat in my summerhouse and pretended. The yearly subscription to Slightly Foxed is one of the very nicest of presents that my husband has ever given me.
Happy reading.