[English History Collection] – Morton, H.V.

In Search Of England / In Search Of Scotland / In Search Of Wales / In Scotland Again.

Four volumes. London, Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1929 / 1929 / 1936 / 1934. 13 x 19.5cm. 232 / 288 / 273 / 415 pages, with illustrations and maps. Original hardcover with gilt lettering. Very good condition with only minor signs of shelf wear and some stronger signs of foxing to edges. Wonderful set. [From the series “The Search Books”].

Born in 1892 in England, HV Morton was a prolific journalist and author. He cut his journalistic teeth by following in his father’s footsteps and training as a reporter with the Birmingham Gazette and Express. Later he moved to Fleet Street in London, renowned still today as the journalistic heart of Britain, where he worked for Empire Magazine, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail. Following this he embarked on a career as a travel writer and it is this aspect of his writing that he is best know for today. His book “In Search of England”, published in 1926, was an account, originally published as a series of articles, of his travels around the South and West of England and quickly became a best seller. It was followed by a companion work (“The Call of England”) and accounts of further travels through Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

His writings are straightforward, accessible and highly readable, exactly what one would expect of an author who was also an experienced journalist. As one of the few writers to record Britain by the then novel means of motor car journeys on Britain’s new and rapidly expanding road network at a time when the country, while still extremely rural, was in the throes of industrialisation his journals are quite unique. They are a snapshot of a time and a country which, for better or worse, will never be seen again. His books appear strangely nostalgic; although he was writing about his own present there is a real feeling of history and an impression he may have been anticipating the loss of much that he was recording. There is a placid, almost dream-like, quality to his prose which draws one in and will entrance those prepared to consider the works as one has to consider the man, which is to say as being of their time. [From hvmorton.co.uk]

• Keywords: 20th century · England · English History – Rare · English History Collection · Great Britain · Library & Collection Building · Scotland · Scottish History Rare · Travel · Travel England – Rare · Travel Europe – Rare · Travel Guide · Travel Photography · Travel Scotland – Rare · Travel Wales – Rare · Wales · Welsh History – Rare
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 91054AB