Please note that the Society is in the process of moving to a new online platform to order books. There is an additional complication that our stocks are in temporary storage apart from A Peculiarly English Genius that can still be purchased online.
Humble apologies.
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A Peculiarly English Genius: a Biography of Richard Jefferies by Andrew Rossabi is an in-depth record of all that is known about the life and works of Richard Jefferies. Planned as a four-volume set, Volumes I, II and III are now available as limited editions and can be purchased using the button below. All volumes consist of 800pp including an Index and black and white illustrations. All are printed in hardback with a green wibalin cloth but Vol I does not have a dustcover. Electronic versions can be emailed direct for £10 a copy.
Volume I was published on 6 November 2017) and covers Jefferies' early years (1848-1867). The hardback can be purchased at the reduced price of £20 incl UK postage (list price £40). The book is also available as a pdf file for £10.
Volume III was published on 1 January 2023, covers 1876-1883 and looks at Jefferies' 'Years of Success'. It can be ordered from the Richard Jefferies Society for £45 incl. UK postage (cover price £60) or as a pdf file for £10.
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Some pamphlets related to Jefferies' birthplace at Coate can be downloaded here (free):
Coate and Richard Jefferies - by historian, John Chandler
In the Footsteps of Richard Jefferies - a walk around Coate Water
Richard Jefferies' Old Town, Swindon - a walk around Old Town
Coate Farm and Bevis Country
In the Footsteps of Richard Jefferies - a tour of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire
Walks in Jefferies Land by Kate Tryon
RICHARD JEFFERIES NOTEBOOKS -- MEMBERS ONLY
In the Footsteps of Richard Jefferies - a tour of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire
Walks in Jefferies Land by Kate Tryon
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RICHARD JEFFERIES NOTEBOOKS -- MEMBERS ONLY
The British Library archives include Jefferies' pocket notebooks that start in 1876 and finish 3 months before his death. Only 16 of the original 24 or 25 remain. The others are likely to be in private hands-- whereabouts unknown. Phyllis Treitel undertook the painstaking work of deciphering the hand-writing in the 1990s and copied the text and illustrations by hand. Many entries make no sense at all. The text has now been typed up and is available to RJS members. Looker published some of the contents in his The Nature Diaries and Notebooks of Richard Jefferies (1948) but Treitel's version is complete. Extracts from Notebook IV (?) were included in Walter Besant's The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies (1888). This notebook is among the missing ones and the extract of text has been included.
Four extracts of nature writing by Jefferies: the first from his essay 'Wild Flowers'; the second from the opening passage of The Story of My Heart, the third: 'A Summer Day in Savernake Forest' and the fourth from Amaryllis at the Fair. They are read here by Sir Simon Russell Beale as part of an online initiative by the Marlborough Literary Festival during the lockdown of 2020.
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A SELECTION OF RECORDINGS
The Drift of Time - Radio play based on the writings of Richard Jefferies. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 31 July 1987 (40 minutes long) as part of the centenary tributes that year. Richard Jefferies is played by Robert Stephens.
A SELECTION OF RECORDINGS
The Drift of Time - Radio play based on the writings of Richard Jefferies. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 31 July 1987 (40 minutes long) as part of the centenary tributes that year. Richard Jefferies is played by Robert Stephens.
A Song of Summer with Paul Scofield (audio recording) reading 'Nature and Eternity' (Hills and the Vale). BBC Radio. First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 22 Nov 1976. Compiled by Roger Frith; incidental music by David Cain; producer - Keith Slade. Approx 55 mins. Six files to download.
Extracts from The Story of My Heart read by Paul Scofield, compiled by Roger Frith and broadcast on 22 July 1982. On four tracks.
Four extracts of nature writing by Jefferies: the first from his essay 'Wild Flowers'; the second from the opening passage of The Story of My Heart, the third: 'A Summer Day in Savernake Forest' and the fourth from Amaryllis at the Fair. They are read here by Sir Simon Russell Beale as part of an online initiative by the Marlborough Literary Festival during the lockdown of 2020.
Harmony, an original musical composition by Julian Anderson performed on 12 July 2013 at the first night of the proms and inspired by The Story of My Heart (audio only).
Two poems after Richard Jefferies for Orchestra by Frank Bridge (1915)
