A Tour Through England and Wales
Defoe's tour, Everyman's Library Nos 820 & 821 (1928)
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First thus. Hardback in dustwrapper. Two volumes (complete). Each 17.5 × 11cm, 376pp + ads & 300pp + ads. Everyman's Library Nos 820 & 821.
Defoe's Tour (1724–6) is an invaluable source of social and economic history. It is both a beautifully written guide to Britain just before the industrial revolution, showing Defoe's wild, inventive streak that endows his work with astonishing energy and tension, and a deeply imaginative response to a brave new economic world. By employing his skills as a chronicler, a polemicist and a creative writer keenly sensitive to the depredations of time, Defoe describes 'the present state' of Britain.
Condition
The books are in good readable condition, though volume 2 has a slight lean to the spine. The dustwrappers are both edgeworn.