This Was England: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Victorians; a survey in pictures and text of their history, morals, wars, inventions, sports, heroes and social and sexual distinctions between 1870 and 1900

Garden City NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.. Near Fine in Very Good dj. 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. [minor shelfwear only, a nice clean copy; jacket lightly worn, a few tiny nicks along top edge, some surface rubbing at both ends of spine]. (B&W plates) "A NEW TECHNIQUE, in which pictures blend with text to show recent history in today's mirror, is used for [this book]. The result is a review of late Victorianism packed with quick-fire comedy that informs as well as amuses. [The author] has fulfilled the only new adventure left in books about the Victorian era -- a reconstruction through its wealth of illustration. ... Nearly a hundred thousand woodcuts and prints were sifted to find the hundred arranged in carefully ordered sequence to make this pattern of the years between 1870 and 1900. They are given pungent point by the accompanying 'period' quotations from many sources -- publications, speeches, diaries, letters." (Just for a touch of perspective: the same amount of "nostalgia" would be at play if someone published, today, a book looking back at the period 1960-1990 -- which, come to think of it, has already happened a lot.) ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this moderately heavy book; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order.**** .