Originally published in 1913 by J. & E. Bumpus, Limited, London, at Vickers' expense in a limited edition of 100 copies.
The book has surrealist illustrations of various imaginary birds, such as the Poggle and the Swank, alongside short poems about them. The Google of the title is a strange creature that lives in a pool in a beautiful garden and at night prowls the land where the birds live.
This was issued in a trade edition by the Medici Society in London in 1931.[1] 'This version was a selection of the original poems and images, losing eight spreads'[2]
The book was published again in 2019 by Ecen Books. This version contains more illustrations than any earlier version. Research for this version was carried out by Andrew Brain and Gareth Monger. Additional images and verses not used in previous editions were included in this expanded version. The foreword was written by V. C. Vickers' grandson, James Campbell (potter) (1942–2019) on 5 October 2019. He died two months later.[5][6]
The coincidence of the name being the same as Google, the well-known internet corporation, has stimulated comment.[7]
He also worked as a humorist and artist. He wrote and illustrated The Google Book published in 1913 while serving as a governor of the Bank of England.[11] A grandson, James Campbell (potter), wrote the foreword to the 2019 expanded version of The Google Book.
