BELOVED LAND: A RICHARD JEFFERIES ANTHOLOGY. Edited by Colin McKelvie. Illustrated by Esdaile Hudson.

1994 1st edition. 4to (194 x 253mm). Pp176. Sepia illustrations by Esdaile Hudson. Dark green boards, spine titled in gilt.

"Richard Jefferies was already established as a unique chronicler of the English country scene when he died at the tragically early age of 38 in 1887. In innumerable essays and a range of books, he established himself as a master of ...fine country writing... In this collection... we can appreciate the range... of his work, from the closely observed... depiction of rural deprivation and the harshness of labouring life, to [his] enchanted sense of the joyful and the mystical in the natural world." Readable account of Victorian agriculture and country life. Chapters include:- Meadow thoughts; Nature and books; Just before winter; Summer in Somerset; The water-colley; The makers of summer; The rookery; The acorn-gatherer; An English deerpark; Among the nuts; Field sports in art; The countryside: Sussex.