The English Inn Past and Present a review of its history and social life.
1825LLV2509London:: B.T. Batsford 1825. 1825. Series: The Old English Life Series. 8vo. xi 308 pp. Color frontis. numerous illus. appendix index; slightly foxed title page stained endpapers possibly from newspaper offset. Decorative gilt-stamped maroon cloth; extremities rubbed corners bumped small white circle on spine. Else very good. FIRST BRISISH EDITION. "The inn has played a large part in the domestic life of England down the centuries. Always intimately associated with the characteristics of the English people as a center for social life it still retains a warm place in their hearts. The story of the tavern therefore is associated with the tale of the road and English wayfaring life. Love of travel is a strong characteristic of the English race yet it co-exists with a feeling for home comforts and a desire to be reminded of familiar things. Thus it is from the earliest times that the inn in spite of its widened functions has at each stage of its development retained the piquant element of domesticity. The old inns of England are unlike those of other countries. The majority are genuine survivals; they are records of other times and customs and they have a symbolic value for the ordinary traveler. They are generally simple in character but many have undergone alterations and changes corresponding with each era of social progress. The inns of each period especially such as remain intact and unaltered could be described in any treatise dealing with the recognized phases of house building; collectively they present a subject for a monograph. . . " -From the preface B.T. Batsford, (1825). hardcover books
