"The Island Garden" Author: [US] Celia Leighton Thaxter / [US] Childe Hassam / Zhou Wenhan Publisher: CITIC Publishing Group

Introduction · · · · · ·
The Island Garden is a classic work of natural literature and the last work published by the "Island Poet" Celia Lytton Thaxter before her death. She patiently tells how she planted flowers and plants and took care of the garden from spring to autumn, how she introduced precious flower seeds to the island, how she carefully cultivated flower seedlings in eggshells, how she fought wits and courage with the annoying but lovely birds, and also recorded the rich spiritual rewards she reaped after hard work... She brought together her lifelong deep love for flowers, birds, and islands, her unique philosophy and perception of life, and her noble and outstanding aesthetic taste in this work that tells how she took care of, tended to, and protected the island garden with great love. The brushstrokes are full of warmth, calmness, and simplicity. It is her "flowers of her later years and the swan song of her life."

After Celia's death, her small garden was reduced to ashes in a fire, but the book "The Island Garden" has been handed down and reprinted again and again. It, the legendary island garden, and the beautiful new world created by the female writer where people, flowers, and birds live together have become the "spiritual home" of literary and artistic celebrities of her time and generations of later generations.

In 1978, scientists from the Shoals Marine Laboratory recruited gardeners to partially restore the island garden, planting the same flowers and trees that Celia had planted. Celia's small garden was once the "spiritual garden" of many contemporary painters, musicians and poets, and was their source of spiritual comfort and inspiration. Today, the legend of Celia and her island garden continues.

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【Editor's recommendation】

☆ The last book written by "Island Poet" Celia before her death is "the flower of her old age and the swan song of her life."

Written in the last year of Celia's life, she brought together her lifelong deep love for flowers, birds and islands, her unique philosophy and insights into life, and her noble and outstanding aesthetic taste in this work that describes how she cared for, tended and protected the island garden with great love.

☆A classic of American nature literature, it has been reprinted many times since its publication and is now translated and published in China for the first time.

The words are like poems, paintings and songs, incorporating the thoughts of philosophers, the feelings of artists and the expressions of writers. The sea and islands described by Celia have the style of "color light painting". She uses the unique perspective and language of a poet to capture the strong contrast of light and shadow and the rich colors of nature.

☆The book has beautiful illustrations and is collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and other museums.

It includes more than 30 paintings created by American Impressionist painter Hassam specifically for Celia and her garden, as well as more than 10 exquisite works of art related to the author and the island. It is a commemorative illustrated collector's edition.

☆Famous writers and art critics supplemented the "Aftertaste of the Garden" and told the story "outside the garden".

It supplements the subsequent story of the garden on the island, leading readers to explore in more depth the origins of Celia and the island, the relationship between literature and painting, and the relationship between women and literature and art, etc.

☆A classic gardening guide that has been passed down for a century and a gardening classic recommended by The New York Times.

The book lists in detail the layout and names of the plants in the garden, and includes a floor plan of the island garden. Celia lovingly shares with readers the secrets of planting a garden, as well as suggestions that may be helpful to gardening enthusiasts.

☆This small island garden shows us another possibility of a better life.

More than 100 years have passed, and this island garden still inspires nostalgia, showing us a kind of beauty outside the mainland that seems imaginary but is within reach.