The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Signed by Author. First Printing

Drabble, Margaret

ISBN 10: 1843546191 / ISBN 13: 9781843546191

Published by London. Atlantic Books, 2009

About this Item

London. Atlantic Books. 2009. Hardcover in dust jacket. 8vo. 343ps. Flat signed by the author without dedication to the title page. First Edition First Printing (1 in number line) Margaret Drabble explores her own family story alongside the history of her favourite childhood pastime - the jigsaw. The result is an original and moving personal history about remembrance, growing older, the importance of play and the ways in which we make sense of our past by ornamenting our present 21 beautiful glossy illustrations. This is a beautifully written and deeply personal book on the jigsaw puzzle and the part it plays in the puzzle of its distinguished author's life. It is a mix of memoir, jigsaw history and the strange delights of puzzling.

Seller Inventory # J10707375

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Signed by Author. First Printing
• Publisher: London. Atlantic Books
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1843546191
• ISBN 13: 9781843546191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

James Boswell described the 'innocent soothing relief from melancholy' of playing draughts, and Margaret Drabble - among countless others - has found a similar solace from assembling jigsaws. In The Pattern in the Carpet she describes the history of this uniquely British form of meditation, from its earliest incarnation in dissected maps (which were used as teaching tools in the eighteenth century), to the amazing variety of cut-outs that have continued to amuse children and adults until the present. Along the way we encounter Roman mosaics; the geographical playing cards that Cardinal Mazarin commissioned for the child Louis XIV; and the game named after the transport minister Belisha Beacon. Woven through her account are intimate memories of her aunt Phyllis - her childhood visits to the house in Long Bennington on the Great North Road, their first visit to London together, the books they read and, above all, the jigsaws that they completed.

The Pattern in the Carpet is an original and often very moving personal history about remembrance and growing older; about the importance of childhood play; and how we rearrange objects into new patterns to make sense of our past and ornament our present.

About the Author

MARGARET DRABBLE was born in Sheffield in 1939 and went to a Quaker boarding school in York, and then Newnham College, Cambridge. In 2008 she was created DBE. She has written several highly acclaimed novels, most recently The Sea Lady (published by Fig Tree, 2006). She has also written biographies, screenplays and is the editor of The Oxford Companion to English Literature. She is married to the biographer Michael Holroyd and lives in London.