A Journal Of An Excursion Round The South-eastern Coast Of England.
£80.00
Publisher
Printed by Gilbert and Rivington, St John's Square,
Place
London
Date
1834
Synopsis
By baker peter smith.
Item Description
Small 8vo. 7 x 4 inches, xii + 152 pp. Includes List of Subscribers. Bound in quarter brown cloth, with contrasting black spine label, gilt, over brown boards. rough cut edges. Some wear and sunning of boards, label with worn edges and scattered foxing, otherwise a very good copy. 1834 signature of Mr. Serjt. Sellon, Chapter House St Pauls on front pastedown. Account of a journey by the Royal Sovereign steamer from London to Margate, whence the author walks along the Kent and East Sussex coasts to Brighton. The journal has much of interest to us today, including a detailed description of the construction method employed on the sea wall which protects Romney Marsh. The style is charming: for example he evidently mishears the name of St Margaret's (above Dover) and refers to it as 'Smargetts'. The list of subscribers accounts for 440 copies, so perhaps 500 were printed. Prominent among the subscribers were various members of the Smith and Sellon families, including thirty two connected to the Chapter House, St Pauls; Mr Serjeant Sellon, who ordered eight copies, being the owner of this copy, while a Mrs Smith, also of the Chapter House, and perhaps related to the author, ordered no less than twenty. A scarce title. (Smith, Bibliotheca Cantiana, 1837, p. 93).
[Stock No. 28059]
