Unknown Hampshire

A first edition of Unknown Hampshire by Clive Holland, published by John Lane The Bodley Head in 1926, with pencil illustrations by Douglas Snowdon throughout. Clive Holland was the pen name of Charles James Hankinson, a prolific travel and topographical writer of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He wrote a whole series of "Unknown" county books for Bodley Head, each exploring the lesser-known corners of an English county with the warmth and curiosity of someone who genuinely loved the landscape.

Hampshire here is taken in properly, from the New Forest and the chalk downs to the coastline, the cathedral city of Winchester, and the rural villages of the interior. There is a lovely chapter on Basingstoke, and the title page opens with a charming pencil vignette of Jane Austen's house at Chawton, which sets the tone for the literary and historical interest woven throughout. Snowdon's drawings are atmospheric and well chosen, capturing the architecture and character of villages and small towns that have changed enormously in the century since.

The book carries an original Mudie's Library label on the front pastedown. Mudie's Select Library, established in 1842, was the dominant commercial circulating library of the Victorian and Edwardian eras and a significant influence on what British publishers produced. By 1926 Mudie's was in its final decade before closing in 1937, which makes this label a genuine piece of late-stage publishing history.

A lovely book for anyone with Hampshire connections, an interest in Jane Austen country, or a fondness for interwar topographical writing.