The Penguin Country Library 1984 - 1986

Penguin Country Library (1)

An alphabetical list of the books published in this series:

Baker, John Alec (2)
The Peregrine
Country Library
Penguin, Sep 1984 (3) [1967]
ISBN 0-14-059004-8

Bourne, George (George Sturt 1863–1927)
Change in the Village
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1984 [1912]
ISBN 0-14-059002-1

Cameron, David Kerr
The Cornkister Days: A portrait of a land and its rituals
Country Library
Penguin, 1986 [1984]
ISBN 0-14-010097-0

Collis, John Stewart (1900-1984)
The Worm Forgives the Plough
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1986 [1973]
ISBN 0-14-059012-9

Holland, William (1746-1819) Edited by Jack Ayres
Paupers and Pig Killers: The Diary of William Holland, a Somerset Parson, 1799-1818
Country Library
Penguin, May 1986 [1984]
ISBN 0-14-059019-6

Kitchen, Fred (1891-1961)
Brother to the Ox. The autobiography of a farm labourer
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1984 [1940]
ISBN 0-14-059001-3

Kilvert, Francis (1840-72)
Kilvert's Diary, 1870-79: Selections from the Diary of the Rev Francis Kilvert
Country Library
Penguin, Sep 1984 [1938-40]
ISBN 0-14-059008-0

Philip, Neil (compiler)
Between Earth and Sky: Poetry and Prose of English Rural Life and Work Between the Enclosures and the Great War
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1984
ISBN 0-14-059005-6

Walton, Izaak (1593-1683)
The Compleat Angler, edited by Bryan Loughrey with a postscript by Lord Home
Country Library
Penguin, Mar 1985 [1653]
ISBN 0-14-059007-2

Webb, Mary [1881-1927]
Precious Bane
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1985 [1924]
ISBN 0-14-059009-9

White, T.H. (1906-64)
The Goshawk
Country Library
Penguin, Jun 1984 [1951]
ISBN 0-14-059003-X

Williamson, Henry (1895-1977)
Tarka the Otter, his joyful water-life and death in the two rivers, illus. by C F Tunnicliffe
Country Library
Penguin, Apr 1985 [1927]
ISBN 0-14-059011-0

Wyatt, John
The Shining Levels: The Story of a Man Who Went Back to Nature, drawings by Elisabeth Trimby
Country Library
Penguin, Apr 1986 [1973]
ISBN 0-14-059015-3

Young, Andrew (1885-1971)
A Prospect of Flowers. A book about wild flowers, illustrations from Gerard's Herbal.
Country Library
Penguin, May 1986 [1945]
ISBN 0-14-059010-2


Chronology of the Penguin Country Library as published by Penguin:

1984

Bourne, George Change in the Village

Kitchen, Fred *Brother to the Ox (4)

Philip, Neil (compiler) Between Earth and Sky (5)

White, T.H. The Goshawk

Baker, John Alec The Peregrine

Kilvert, Francis Kilvert's Diary, 1870-79

1985

Walton, Izaak The Compleat Angler (6)

Williamson, Henry Tarka the Otter (7)

Webb, Mary Precious Bane

1986

Holland, William Paupers and Pig Killers (8)

Wyatt, John The Shining Levels

Young, Andrew A Prospect of Flowers

Collis, John Stewart *The Worm Forgives the Plough

Cameron, David Kerr The Cornkister Days (9)


Original publication dates:

1653 Walton, Izaak The Compleat Angler

1799 Holland, William Paupers and Pig Killers

1870 Kilvert, Francis Kilvert's Diary, 1870-79

1912 Bourne, George Change in the Village

1924 Webb, Mary Precious Bane

1927 Williamson, Henry Tarka the Otter

1940 Kitchen, Fred Brother to the Ox

1945 Young, Andrew A Prospect of Flowers

1951 White, T.H. The Goshawk

1967 Baker, John Alec The Peregrine

1973 Collis, John Stewart The Worm Forgives the Plough

1973 Wyatt, John The Shining Levels

1984 Cameron, David Kerr The Cornkister Days

1984 Philip, Neil (compiler) Between Earth and Sky


Acknowledgement:
I am very grateful to Martin Yates, Publications Officer of The Penguin Collectors Society for additional bibliographical information.

Notes:

1. ‘This delightful, inimitably English series of books ranges from fiction to folk lore, from autobiography to natural history. Whatever the subject, each book has a special sort of relationship with the English or British countryside’, this is the only advert for the series in: Paupers and pig killers: The diary of William Holland, a Somerset Parson, 1799-1818. Penguin,1986.
2. All the books are in ‘B’ format [7 ½ x 5 in./ 198 x 129mm.]
3. First published by Penguin 1976.
4. *This volume and John Stewart Collis, The worm forgives the plough, are the only two volumes not using the publishers device on the half-title page: an engraving 1 X 1”, of an Oak tree with a cow grazing, and horse standing at its base, arranged around the top in a semicircle is the series title PENGUIN COUNTRY LIBRARY.
5. This is the only volume originally published by Penguin.
6. First published by Penguin in 1939 as a yellow cover Miscellaneous Main Series No 238. No introduction or notes but wood engravings by Gertrude Hermes.
7. First published by Penguin in March 1937 as Main Series No. 81 (orange cover, no introduction or illustrations).
8. Several of the volumes advertise other books in this series, but this is the only one giving an overview with a list of 9 further titles. The four missing from the entry are the final four on the above list. No General Editor is listed.
9. Penguin says that this was published in 1987, however the imprint is ‘1986’. It is also the only one of the series not indicated as such on both cover and spine, but only on the half title which states: ‘PENGUIN COUNTRY LIBRARY’ + the engraving. I wonder if this was an error, or a premonition that it was to be the final one in the series?