Edith Blackwell Holden - Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

Edith Blackwell Holden (1871–1920) was a British artist and art teacher. She became famous following the long-belated posthumous publication of her Nature Notes for 1906, under the title 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady'.

Edith was born in Kings Norton, Birmingham. She worked initially as a teacher at a girls’ school, then as an illustrator and observer of nature.

The Nature Notes from which the bestselling The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady was created was originally produced as a model for her students to follow. The diary was a carefully observed record of the seasons in the countryside around her home and included poetry and delicate paintings of birds, plants and insects. It was a personal diary and never considered for publication although Edith also did work illustrating some books and magazines. She also at this time exhibited her paintings for several years at the Royal Birmingham Society of Arts and in 1907 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Edith's diary for 1906 passed through the family of her husband Ernest until it was inherited by her great niece Rowena Stott, herself an artist and designer. Rowena recalls as a child frequently looking at the diary and being fascinated by the beautiful and delicate watercolours of flowers and nature. While a student at Exeter she took the diary to a local publisher, Webb & Bower, who were equally fascinated by the diary and signed an agreement with Rowena to publish it in 1977 in a facsimile edition and renamed it 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady'. The book became a great publishing success.

Edith died tragically in 1920 from accidental drowning in the Thames near Kew, whilst trying to reach for some flower buds.

The image above is sourced from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.