Blue cloth binding with gilt titles and picture of a knight on a white horse on the front board.

F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feel and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

This is an early edition of Emily’s work

Emily Underdown (1863–1947) was an English writer, novelist and poet. She is best known for popularising Dante (1265–1321) and for her children’s books. Many of her works are written under the pseudonym Norley Chester, which name appears to have been taken from the village of Norley, Cheshire, near the town of Chester. The use of pseudonyms was common with female writers of the time. She also illustrated the book The Pageant of The Year: A Garden Record In Verse.

According to Chaucer as Children’s Literature: Retellings from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras, Underdown’s The Gateway to Chaucer “…is probably the most thoughtful presentation to children…” of the complicated work, and “…one of the most thoughtful collections with great philosophical and historical interest.”

She is also remembered as a “war poet” of the First World War for her work “The Gifts of War”.