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 ...
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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.
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Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $1.78, good condition, Sold by Seattle Goodwill rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Houghton Mifflin.
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Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.38, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Houghton Mifflin.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.38, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Houghton Mifflin.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.43, very good condition, Sold by The Maryland Book Bank rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from baltimore, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Houghton Mifflin.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.52, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.52, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.52, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of The Pattern in the Carpet: a Personal History With to cart. $2.52, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of Pattern in the Carpet to cart. $2.83, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Canongate Canons.
Add this copy of Pattern in the Carpet to cart. $2.83, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Canongate Canons.
