‘Many of us have bought a notebook, seduced by its proper cloth or leather binding, laid paper and marbled endpapers into thinking we can fill its pages with our equally well-finished thoughts and observations, or keep a diary in it. It is to be our riposte to all those ephemeral electric screens. But after a few pages the entries peter out and we are left with feelings of guilt and some elegantly bound scrap paper . . . Nil desperandum. This is when you turn it into a commonplace book instead.’
So begins the introduction to An Englishman’s Commonplace Book, a compilation of often arresting facts, vivid descriptions, absurd observations and wise words collected by Roger Hudson over 40 years.
Commonplace books have been on our mind since the book blogger Miranda Mills came into the Slightly Foxed office to sign copies of her newly published Cosy Commonplace Book. Those signed copies have unfortunately sold out, but plenty of unsigned copies are still available on our website. We’re sure it will make for a lovely companion to curl up with during the colder months ahead.
During Miranda’s visit to the office, we spent some time discussing the art of commonplacing, and it got us thinking about Hudson’s commonplace book, which we published in 2020. ‘Variety, the unexpected, a bit of vulgarity and the ridiculous mixed in with the elevated,’ was Hudson’s recipe in compiling this commonplace book from material he’s gathered. And that is what we are given in this wide-ranging collection by a well-read man with a sharp eye, an ironic – indeed very English – sense of humour and a devotion to history. Sir Christopher Wren rubs shoulders with Eddie Izzard, Princess Margaret with Elizabeth I. And all organized under subject headings to help find that appropriate quote.
Altogether, it is a book for the times and a perfect present for a thoughtful, humorous friend. It may even inspire you to start a commonplace book of your own.
With best wishes, as ever, from the SF staff
Isabel, Rebecca, Edie, Ruth & Jennie
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