1893 Our Village by Miss Mitford: Illustrated Antique Edition

A lovely antique copy of Our Village by Mary Russell Mitford. Published in 1893 by Macmillan & Co., London and with one hundred wonderful line drawings and decoration by Hugh Thomson. A book in the series known as The Cranford Series of dark green and gold decorated, illustrated titles.

Our Village is a collection of about one hundred literary sketches of rural life originally published during the 1820s and 1830s. The vivid series was based upon life in Three Mile Cross, a hamlet in the parish of Shinfield (south-east of Reading in Berkshire), where Mary Russell Mitford lived.

Mary Russell Mitford is an interesting character. She grew up near Jane Austen and was an acquaintance of hers when young. At ten years old in 1797, young Mary Russell Mitford won her father a lottery ticket worth £20,000, but by the 1810s the small family suffered financial difficulties, the father having frittered all of the money away. Mary needed to write to earn an income.

Pages are clean, bright and tightly bound with just mild tanning and the occasional spot. Inked inscription to verso of the front free endpaper, dated 1894. No other writing or markings of previous ownership. Frontispiece illustration still has the original tissue guard (this has tanned). Partial crack to rear spine paper. All edges are shiny gilt. Has developed a lean over time.

Dark green cloth covered boards have ornate floral decoration to the front and spine. Bumping to the front corners. A few mild scratches to the back board. Some chipping, and a little loss to the cloth at the head of the spine (see close-up photo). Otherwise ornate gilt decoration is lovely, and this is a beautiful book to display.

Your antique copy of Our Village will be wrapped with care in tissue and ribbon* and sent well packaged. I am always happy to add a gift card with a message to the parcel.

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H 19 cm x 13 cm, 256 pages, 0.44 kg. I dispatch worldwide daily from the UK. With the exception of a small number of countries.

* If you would prefer for you book not to be decoratively wrapped but sent simply in the full protective packaging please add a note to the order.

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