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Nursery Rhymes of Old London Town: Caroline Walker
1st May 2024 at 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
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The next meeting of the Chichester Literary Society will on Wednesday 1 May, at 2pm in Boxgrove Village Hall will see Caroline Walker will talk about the book Nursery Rhymes of London Town by Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965).
Visitors are always welcome and can buy a ticket on the door for just £8.00.
Eleanor was an immensely popular writer of her time, best known today for her words to the hymn ‘Morning has Broken’. She had ‘a talent akin to genius’ and used her ‘perceptive wit’ to create a host of much-loved children’s stories and verse, topical satire, musical plays and biography. Published in 1916, Nursery Rhymes of London Town is a collection of whimsical verses that play on the capital’s place names including Highgate, Hammersmith, Richmond, Parson’s Green and dozens more. The book was Eleanor’s first major success and its instant popularity with both adults and children led to a sequel the following year. The book was also highly praised for its comic illustrations, drawn by the graphic artist and Caroline’s ‘great-uncle ‘Max’, MacDonald ‘Max’ Gill, younger brother of sculptor Eric Gill. Caroline will tell the story of the creation of this delightful book, its magical miscellany of poems and pictures interwoven with tales of the talented Farjeon family and the artist Max Gill, as well as Eleanor’s poignant reminiscences of her close friend, the poet Edward Thomas.
Caroline Walker specialises in the life and works of her great-uncle, MacDonald Gill, an architect and graphic designer best known for his comic pictorial poster maps for London Underground. Her quest to discover more about him uncovered a body of work remarkable for its quality, quantity and diversity. Her work explored his diaries, documents and other memorabilia that enabled her to piece together his colourful life story, now told in her book MacDonald Gill: Charting a Life (Unicorn 2020).