SHEEP BELL & PLOUGHSHARE: the story of two village families.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial scenic watercolour (of The Yew Trees,Bratton,by F.M. Brinkworth) illustrated dw/dj,with black lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Spine/ backstrip of dw/dj inevitably,slighly sunned/faded.Top edge coloured pink/mauve,fore-edges generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight, clean - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, would appear unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean, publisher's original,sharp-cornered,speckled pinkish mauve(?) cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and family tree illustrated eps with some minimal off-set foxing from dw/djs' inner flaps,to both free endpapers.UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,5- 180pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,with illus list/table to it's verso,author's foreword with another note to it's verso,11 chapters,16pp contemporary b/w facsimile reproductions illustrations and b/w photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp28/9 and pp156/7 respectively and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title,title page with dedication to it's verso and 4pp blanks at the rear of the book. In 1974 the death of an old lady of 97 ended the direct line of a family that had been in continuous residence in the Wiltshire village of Bratton for more than 300 years.Much of the material on which this book is based - a wide variety of documents,the family treasures and domestic bric-a-brac accumulated over the generations,together with the records of a family business,the iron Works - came into the possession of the author,herself a native of Bratton.She has used it as the basis for a new approach to local history: the fascinating story of two village families seen through their artefacts,as it were.As well as their interests in farming, and later in rural industry,the two families were much concerned with education and the improvement of village life,and both played a pioneer and very active part in the Baptist movement in Wiltshire. Prosperous,rigid in principle but liberal in their outlook,they dominated village affairs for a considerable period,and in re-constructing their lives in a detailed,and sometimes moving,way the author has drawn together the diverse threads of changing social attitudes within a stable society that make up the very fabric of rural life . . . Since April 2013,and again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering its prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered its qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!