A Murmur of Bees. With Illustrations by Dodie Masterman. Oxford Illustrated Press, 1980. First Edition. Pp 95. Laminated pictorial paper boards. A fine bright copy.

Inscribed by the Author to Monk Gibbon. Also with letters enclosed to Gibbon requesting & thanking him for permission to include his poem ‘The Bees’ (featured on p. 78).

An interesting selection of bee and beekeeping-related poems and prose from ancient to modern sources.

William Monk Gibbon (1896 -1987) was a prolific writer of poetry, novels. autobiography, travel and criticism known as ‘The Grand Old Man of Irish Letters.’ He was educated at St. Columba’s College, Dublin and Keble College, Oxford.