Rural Rides - 1830

London: William Cobbett,, 1830. An enduring classic First edition in book form of this masterpiece of political journalism, deservedly the best known of Cobbett's works, in its original binding. The distressed state of English farming was Cobbett's greatest concern in the 1820s, as he sought to maintain Britain's original state of agrarian equilibrium in the face of economic fluctuation and industrialization. Rural Rides was based on a series of tours across Britain made on horseback and originally published as a series of letters in the Political Register, the weekly periodical Cobbett established in 1802 and ran until his death in 1835. "The vividness and force of his writing, whether in describing the countryside or his encounters with those who worked in it, have made his work an enduring classic. In his accounts of the poverty caused by widespread enclosure he struck the first blow in the long struggle for improving the condition of labourers on the land, and the opinions he expresses in many ways anticipate the doctrine of the Young England group as led by Disraeli" (PMM). "The 'rides' have subsequently appeared in many different versions and editions on account of their accurate and colourful presentation of the English countryside and rural society of Cobbett's time" (ODNB). Octavo. Original green quarter cloth, sympathetically rebacked with the original spine laid down, preserving original paper label some of which has been restored in facsimile, grey paper boards. Engraved map, 12 pp. advertisment at rear; with supplementary leaves pp. 45*-124* bound preceding main text. Twentieth-century ownership inscription to front free endpaper, catalogue clippings tipped in to rear endpapers. Label and extremities a little worn, slight spotting, 5 cm closed tear into pp. 531/2 into text without loss. A very good copy. Goldsmiths' 26974; Kress C.2480; Pearl [166]; Printing and the Mind of Man 294.