An anthology in two volumes
A Few More Grapes, the sequel, carries the gathering happily on.
"Give me a man that is not dull,
When all the world with rifts is full;
But unamazed dares clearly sing.
Whenas the roof's a-tottering;
And, though it falls, continues still
Tickling the cittern with his quill."
Herrick
The Collection
Volume One · 2018
A very personal anthology of other people's words, spanning nearly three thousand years and wandering cheerfully across poetry and prose, epitaphs and riddles, history and translation: a memorial inscription from a Hampshire church, the Earl of Uxbridge at Waterloo, a mildly rude Anglo-Saxon riddle, James Michie's economical Martial, and Baudelaire on a vampire, among much else.
Volume Two · New · 2025
It seems a magpie is never quite done. The sequel ranges as happily across the centuries and across the forms: poetry and prose, the grave and the comic, the celebrated and the entirely unexpected. It is offered, as before, to anyone of a like-minded turn of mind.
A word from the author
For many years I have been in the habit of putting to one side pieces that moved, amused and interested me; eventually, inspired by sitting next to John Julius Norwich at dinner a few years ago, but with no aspiration to succeed him and his Christmas Crackers, I decided to pick some favourites to share with friends and anyone with similar tastes. Plenty of Grapes is the result, my own very personal collection of literary odds and ends.
It has been an enterprise I heartily recommend to anyone with a magpie mind - not the least of the pleasures is the discovery of new pieces while gathering in old ones. The collection spans nearly 3,000 years and I have added some sample pieces to this site, to give you an idea of the range of the collection. I hope you enjoy them.
If you would like to know more, or to have a copy, do get in touch with me. A second volume, A Few More Grapes, is now available, and if anyone has special pieces they would like to share with me, I shall be delighted to receive them and consider them for addition.
The latest gathering
Published last year, the second volume is a further gathering of words that have moved, amused or intrigued me since the first went out into the world. Some pieces I had been saving for years; others arrived by happy accident, or were pressed upon me by kind friends who had caught the same acquisitive habit.
It is offered, as before, to anyone of a like-minded turn of mind, in the hope that they will find as much pleasure in the reading as I did in the gathering.
From the collection
Events
No events are scheduled at present. Sign up below and I'll let you know when the next one is announced. Most recently:
Oct
4
2024
Past event · Isle of Wight Literary Festival
LitFeast Marquee, Northwood House, Cowes PO31 8AZ · Friday 4 October 2024
My talk is an introduction to the pleasures and rewards of making a collection of favourite passages from a lifetime of reading. In my collection, Plenty of Grapes, the pieces I chose included my childhood memories as well as favourite poems, short book extracts, rude jokes, clean jokes, unusual funerary inscriptions, letters, newspaper articles, epigrams, diary extracts, interesting word derivations and so on; the possibilities were endless, but the selection process was brutal.
Get in touch
If you would like to know more, or to have a copy of either book, do get in touch with me. Copies are sold directly, so just send a message below.
Thank you. Your message is on its way and I will be in touch.
Sample pieces from the collection
Eight pieces chosen to suggest the range of the anthology, across nearly three thousand years, in poetry and prose, the grave and the comic.
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The inscription
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Last updated June 2026
How this site works, what little personal data it handles, and the basis on which it is used. Plain language, aligned with UK data protection law.
This website (plentyofgrapes.co.uk) is published by Richard Hilliard for the books Plenty of Grapes and A Few More Grapes, and is hosted on Cloudflare. It sets no cookies. To see roughly how many people visit, it uses Simple Analytics, a privacy-friendly service that uses no cookies and collects no personal data.
This site is published and operated by Richard Hilliard, Wilton, Salisbury SP2 0BA, United Kingdom. You can reach me by email at hilliardrg@gmail.com. It is an information site about my anthologies; it does not take payments or create accounts, and copies of the books are arranged privately, by email.
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Richard Hilliard, Wilton, Salisbury SP2 0BA. Email hilliardrg@gmail.com.
Events
No events are scheduled at present. Sign up below and I'll let you know when the next one is announced. The talks and readings so far:
Oct
4
2024
Past event · Isle of Wight Literary Festival
LitFeast Marquee, Northwood House, Cowes PO31 8AZ · Friday 4 October 2024
My talk is an introduction to the pleasures and rewards of making a collection of favourite passages from a lifetime of reading. In my collection, Plenty of Grapes, the pieces I chose included my childhood memories as well as favourite poems, short book extracts, rude jokes, clean jokes, unusual funerary inscriptions, letters, newspaper articles, epigrams, diary extracts, interesting word derivations and so on; the possibilities were endless, but the selection process was brutal.
Oct
6
2022
Past event
Travellers' Club, London · Thursday 6 October 2022, 18:00 to 19:00
An hour's entertainment in aid of James' Place, the charity founded in 2018 by Clare Milford Haven to support men in suicidal crisis.
Questions & answers
A few things readers often ask. If your question is not answered here, do get in touch and I will be glad to help.
Plenty of Grapes is Richard Hilliard's personal anthology of other people's words: writing that has moved, amused or intrigued him, gathered over a lifetime of reading and spanning nearly three thousand years.
A Few More Grapes is the second volume, published in 2025: a further gathering in the same spirit, ranging across the centuries and the forms, from the grave to the comic.
Copies of both books are sold directly by Richard. Use the contact form, or email hilliardrg@gmail.com, and he will arrange a copy for you.
Please get in touch for current prices and postage, and Richard will be glad to let you know.
Richard Hilliard is the collector and editor of the anthologies, a lifelong magpie who sets aside the pieces of writing that catch his eye.
Yes. Richard is always delighted to receive special pieces others would like to share, and to consider them for a future gathering. Do get in touch.
Past talks and readings are listed on the page. Sign up to the newsletter to hear about future events.
