Our 67th Quarterly Edition for the summer of 2025 coincides with the American publication of Is a River Alive?, a brilliant and important new book by author Robert Macfarlane. Recounting three epic journeys, Macfarlane surveys the state of Earth’s rivers and the people who are fighting for them. It’s an impossibly large story, interwoven with an extremely personal fourth river tale.

Macfarlane is a long-time Field Notes user and occasional co-conspirator. We first worked with him a few years ago, making a companion 3-Pack to his book, Underland. We were thrilled to learn that once again, with Is a River Alive?, Field Notes played an important part in his writing process:

“These notebooks were my constant companions during the years of writing Is A River Alive?; always there in pocket or pack. Into them I poured the glitter of primary encounter; image, dialogue, idea. They got dog-eared and foxed and soaked –– and filled with words. The closing of the circle which now sees a new ‘River’ edition of Field Notes flowing out of the finished book makes me very happy indeed.”

Meander

Also returning is Macfarlane’s frequent collaborator, legendary visual artist Stanley Donwood, best known for his artwork for Radiohead and The Smile.

Donwood’s starting point for the Is a River Alive? covers was his entrancing, hand-carved linocut titled “Meander.” Manipulation of the colors and textures of the resulting prints led to a series of works, two of which were chosen for the U.S.A. and U.K. editions of the book.

The highly textured and colorful covers are printed and embossed on Sappi McCoy 100#C Silk stock. Three gloss-white staples bind-in 48 Domtar Lynx 60#T pages featuring a “Cloud Forest Gray” graph grid.

Two of the three Memo Books in our 3-Pack reproduce the U.S.A. and U.K. hardcover edition covers, treated with matte, gloss, and reticulated U.V. varnishes. The third book features the labor of Donwood’s artistic process, the linocut itself—treated with matte and gloss U.V. varnishes. The embossing and varnishes lend an added tactile element to Donwood’s stunning visuals.

Go With the Flow

Along with two “Is a River Alive” 3-Packs, Quarterly Edition subscribers will receive an exclusive 12"×16" reproduction “Fisk Map.” Geologist and cartographer Harold Fisk’s 1944 series of maps depict the ancient courses of the Mississippi River. His beautiful, colorful, and intriguing maps inspired Donwood’s “Meander” print. The reverse of the fold-out map includes an excerpt from the book along with river facts, maps, and figures.

Start a year-long subscription with this Summer Edition and receive the map, free USA shipping on all your subscription shipments, 10% off while shopping at this site, and lots of other benefits, including our sincere thanks.

By the way, the first shipment of a subscription (or renewal) comes in a custom-designed box. For 2025, that box is by artist Landis Blair.

Be Prepared

Researching this edition we’ve become obsessed with Robert’s book, Stanley’s art and the Fisk Maps. We’ve decided we need a Fisk Map with us at all times, just in case we find ourselves near the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley and it is 5,000 years ago. 

Purchase an “Is a River Alive” 3-Pack, or start a year-long subscription, and we’ll mail you a link to download a free set of mobile phone wallpapers in your shipment tracking email, so you can keep them handy too.