In the summer of 1895 Emma Roberts received a copy of Matthew Arnold’s Essays in Criticism for her birthday
She decorated her book by adding a Fleur-de-lis as well as a number of illuminated characters
Her brother helped her to construct two ribbon clasps
In later life Emma and her brother Charles became missionaries and spent many years in China
They both retired from view in the 1920s and were last recorded in Northern China in 1937
On the day of the Super Moon
I purchased Emma’s book from small shop in Deal
Its decorations had weathered well
But its ribbon claps were gone leaving only shallow indentations
I sat on Deal beach
Night was falling
In the channel the lights of far off ships flickered quietly
I could also see huge fires burning
France was celebrating again