Buy this book on-line INGRAMS, RICHARD - Edited & intro by: : COBBETT'S country bookUK.NEWTON ABBOT.DEVON,DAVID & CHARLES,nd. ISBN 0715369008.
UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,cream+brown+cream,Bert Kitchen artwork illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges.Two small closed tears [one each to top edges of both front and rear edges] with reciprocal creasing but no loss.Top edge lightly dust-soiled and aged with minimal spotting,fore-edge considerably brighter and cleaner; contents crisp, bright,tight and near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Bright,clean, publisher's original,plain dark brown cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB +dw/dj,1st edn,7-216pp [paginated] includes half-title page,recto of same b/w line illustrated,title page,contents list/ table,a potted biography of W.Cobbett, introductory observations from treatise on Cobbett's Corn,selected writings on Gardening,Farming,Rural Sports,two sweetcorn recipes,profuse b/w line illus by Bert Kitchen throughout the text and the book,and sources list/table to rear.
William Cobbett,best known today for his 'Rural Rides',was one of the most prolific writers of his times - only Defoe surpassed him in output.
He was always busy as journalist,agitator (in both England and America),historian and,above all countryman.The son of a farmer,in spite of his stormy life,his interest in his farm and garden was always an active one.When he was in Newgate Gaol for libel he wrote: 'I had a farm in hand. It was necessary that I should be constantly informed of what was doing.I gave all the orders whether as to purchases,sales,ploughing,sowing,breeding, in short,with regard to everything . . .' Unlike Voltaire,Cobbett was able to cultivate his garden as well as keeping involved in public affairs; and when he was in Newgate,a regular hamper brought him supplies of plants and bulbs and flowers so that he 'might see the size of them'.
For him writing was an instinctive human activity,like walking or sleeping,and the diversity of his interests make him an ideal subject for the anthologist.
Richard Ingrams has for long been a Cobbett enthusiast and agrees with Hilaire Belloc: 'Oh,for one man who should write healthy,hearty,straightforward English! Oh,for Cobbett!.' The present volume confines itself to his writings on the countryside and the selections range from farming matters such as ploughing,sowing and the keeping of pigs to gardening in all its aspects including pests and gardeners themselves,ending with two delightful recipes for sweet corn.This is a book that will be read for its sheer delight in the countryside,but,Cobbett being Cobbett,it is packed with practical advice and tips for horticulture that are as valid today as ever.He attacked tea and potatoes vehemently as he fumed against Wilberforce and it is this quality of passion that makes his writings tremendously alive and stimulating.
Bert Kitchen's finely drawn illustrations and decorations have an empathy with the countryside that Cobbett himself would have appreciated.
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