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Inscription, by Clarence Bicknell

Image attached to PD.11-1980.f.57

An image of Recto: Inscription with floral illustration: Sempervivum hirtum L. Bicknell, Clarence (British, 1842-1918).  RECTO: hold on to us: and off they went / singing merrily / "Never say 'did', / Or think about 'I', / Live for the others / Never mind bothers, / Sempervivum, Sempervivum, / All alivum, all alivum!" / And people thought the show was / over, but there was one more, and / when he was seen coming, voices / said. Shy, it's Mr. Dandelion! / Who ever would have expected him / to come. We've seen him millions / of times, the common Dandelion! / and some called out "Halloa! / Dandy", and others "Beware of the lion." But though his real name was / Taraxacum, he didn't mind their nicknames, and he cer- / -tainly looked very bright and beautiful with his round shining / face. When he came up he said very modestly, / I'm such a common thing you know, / I hardly liked to come. / Nor can I speak out well; this show / Of beauty strikes me dumb. VERSO: I only try by smiling face / To gladden every one, / And have no merit, save the grace / Of being like the sun. / My work brings me but little wealth, / Tho' all work blessing gains, / I just grow salad for your health / And med'cine for your pains. / I have great teeth and fearful claws / Quite like a savage beast; / But never kill or wound, because / I would not hurt the least / And when in stormy days, few choose / To travel up above / I send my aeroplanes with news / And messages of love. / And everywhere I gladly live; / In Babylon or Sion! / And all I have quite freely give, / Though but a Dandelion." / And so the procession ended, and the judges conferred together, while the / crowd collected. Then Mr. Rhododendron said "We are very grateful to you / all who have taken part in our most successful festival, and hope that next / year many of those who have not competed this time will do so: Some of / you we consider to be more beautiful, more original, or perhaps more useful, / but no one seems to us to combine so many me

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Recto: Inscription with floral illustration: Sempervivum hirtum L. Bicknell, Clarence (British, 1842-1918). RECTO: hold on to us: and off they went / singing merrily / "Never say 'did', / Or think about 'I', / Live for the others / Never mind bothers, / Sempervivum, Sempervivum, / All alivum, all alivum!" / And people thought the show was / over, but there was one more, and / when he was seen coming, voices / said. Shy, it's Mr. Dandelion! / Who ever would have expected him / to come. We've seen him millions / of times, the common Dandelion! / and some called out "Halloa! / Dandy", and others "Beware of the lion." But though his real name was / Taraxacum, he didn't mind their nicknames, and he cer- / -tainly looked very bright and beautiful with his round shining / face. When he came up he said very modestly, / I'm such a common thing you know, / I hardly liked to come. / Nor can I speak out well; this show / Of beauty strikes me dumb. VERSO: I only try by smiling face / To gladden every one, / And have no merit, save the grace / Of being like the sun. / My work brings me but little wealth, / Tho' all work blessing gains, / I just grow salad for your health / And med'cine for your pains. / I have great teeth and fearful claws / Quite like a savage beast; / But never kill or wound, because / I would not hurt the least / And when in stormy days, few choose / To travel up above / I send my aeroplanes with news / And messages of love. / And everywhere I gladly live; / In Babylon or Sion! / And all I have quite freely give, / Though but a Dandelion." / And so the procession ended, and the judges conferred together, while the / crowd collected. Then Mr. Rhododendron said "We are very grateful to you / all who have taken part in our most successful festival, and hope that next / year many of those who have not competed this time will do so: Some of / you we consider to be more beautiful, more original, or perhaps more useful, / but no one seems to us to combine so many me

Image data

  • Accession Number: PD.11-1980.f.57
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/19.0
  • Focal length: 80
  • Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
  • Photographer name: Sam Cole
  • Image height: 1025 pixels
  • Image width: 699 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 593.67kB
  • Exposure time: 1/125
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 19/1

Key words

20th Century Bicknell British School Clarence Bicknell drawing Fitz_PDP handwriting handwritten illustrated illustration inscriptions sketch sketchbook writing

Colours in this image

rgb(238,232,217), rgb(6,6,5), rgb(230,160,63), rgb(227,195,133), rgb(208,103,22), rgb(150,143,120), rgb(193,162,125), rgb(210,194,170), rgb(108,108,92), rgb(106,100,92), rgb(191,184,165)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Inscription, by Clarence Bicknell" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2252494624 Accessed: 2024-03-29 15:17:26

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2252494624 |title=Inscription, by Clarence Bicknell |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 15:17:26|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp78/PD_11_1980_f_57_verso_201704_sjc288_dc2.jpg"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Inscription, by Clarence Bicknell</figcaption>
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