Rural Rides

William Cobbett

Published by William Cobbett, London, 1830

About this Item

From Wikipedia: Rural Rides is the book for which the English journalist, agriculturist and political reformer William Cobbett is best known At the time of writing in the early 1820s, Cobbett was a radical anti-Corn Law campaigner, newly returned to England from a spell of self-imposed political exile in the United States Cobbett disapproved of proposals for remedies for agricultural distress suggested in Parliament in 1821 He made up his mind to see rural conditions for himself, and to "enforce by actual observation of rural conditions" the statements he had made in answer to the arguments of the landlords before the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee He embarked on a series of journeys by horseback through the countryside of Southeast England and the English Midlands He wrote down what he saw from the points of view both of a farmer and a social reformer The result documents the early 19th-century countryside and its people as well as giving free vent to Cobbett's opinions He first published his observations in serial form in the Political Register, between 1822 and 1826 Four rides â " from 1822, 1823, 1825 and 1826 â " were first published in book form in two volumes in 1830 In 1853, his son James published an expanded edition, including rides from 1821, as well as his father's 1830-32 political tours to the Midlands, North and Scotland This copy is fair in renewed paper boards and endpapers to replicate the original binding. Most of the original cloth spine has been preserved, however, including the original paper label. The contents are complete, including the 12 page ads at the rear and the map at page 355. However, there is dark staining (spilled tea or coffee?) through much of the book, particularly on the front fifty pages or so. Without the staining, it would be very good.

Seller Inventory # B844

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rural Rides
• Publisher: William Cobbett, London
• Publication Date: 1830
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1830.
• Condition: FAir