Little Toller Books

Little Toller Books is a little publisher located in West Dorset and if you choose to go walking in England you can stay at their shop. If you are looking for new or classic books relating to nature, visit the Little Toller website. Here is a recent endorsement from Michael Ondaatje:







Michael Ondaatje, "By the Book," New York Times, June 14, 2018.
“What was the last truly great book you read?"
“Actually I am still reading it. Gilbert White’s “The Natural History of Selborne,” published by the wonderful Little Toller Books in Dorset, which keeps great books on nature in print. Written in 1798, it has the atmosphere and many of the qualities of a great English novel, except that the Bennet family has been replaced by weather and landscapes, as well as the seasonal arrival of visiting insects, all of them faultlessly described. White’s writing, with his depiction of a returning rainstorm or the slow wanderings of his tortoise, is great literature at a perfect pace, every creature dressed and portrayed in quick-witted adjectives; and he enthralls us with his knowledge of crickets, who are a “thirsty race,” who “open communications from one room to another” and who can sometimes foretell the death of a near relation or the approach of an absent lover. The book is a classic and has never been out of print since its first publication.”

The title of one of Little Toller's new books was puzzling to me: Orison For A Curlew. 'Orison' is an archaic word for 'a prayer' and the subtitle of the book is, In Search of a Bird on the Brink of Extinction.

If you go to the Little Toller website you can order a set of their books and probably get them in time for Christmas. If you would like to sample the wares first, go to their site and read some of the essays in The Clearing, their online journal.

Post Script
Unfortunately the curlew is not the only bird on the verge of extinction. If you choose to read The Clearing you will find within it a very good essay by Anita Roy: "Vultures on the Brink." You may recall that I posted about this subject a while back. See: "Vanishing Vultures."