1894; Various Authors, Austin Dobson; 1st Edition, Cranford Series; London, Macmillan and Co.; Original Cloth; Illustrated by Hugh Thomson; 31/163 Pages; w5"xh7.4"; Rare!

• Beautiful/Original dark green cloth with ornate gold illustrated front and binding, gold gilded page edges, with a lovely frontispiece, with over 70 other fine illustrations, and a Great Read!

• Hugh Thomson (1 June 1860 – 7 May 1920) was an Irish Illustrator born at Coleraine near Derry. He is best known for his pen-and-ink illustrations of works by authors such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and J. M. Barrie. Thomson inaugurated the Cranford School of illustration with the publication of the 1891 Macmillan reissue of Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford.

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• TITLE, THE ANGLER'S SONG, WHO LIVETH SO MERRY, COME SWEET LASS, MORNING IN LONDON, JOURNEY TO EXETER, HOW HAPPY COULD I BE WITH EITHER, A HUNTING WE WILL GO, OH! DEAR! WHAT CAN THE MATTE BE?, SIR DILBERRY DIDDLE, ETC.!
  
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• The Cranford Series, a collection of exquisitely designed and (at the time) affordably priced books, holds a significant place in the history of English publishers bindings. Released by Macmillan and Co. over a period of 32 years spanning from 1876 to 1907, the books are highly sought after for their dark green cloth bindings with distinctive rich gilt pictorial blocking on their covers, with delightful shelf appeal arising from their detailed gilt spine vignettes. 
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• It was not until seventeen years and the issue of a fifth volume that it was even recognized as a series, and then it took its name, not from its originator, Caldecott, nor from its first volume, Old Christmas, but from its fourth volume, Cranford by Mrs. Gaskell, 1891. In 1892 when six new volumes were issued by the name of Cranford, the name was extended to the entire group,including the three previous volumes.In addition to the twenty-four "Cranford" volumes, there are a dozen or more other volumes which are 'derivatives,' similar-looking volumes issued by other publishers, including Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner; George Allen' and F. S. Ells; they are often mistaken for the Cranford series, but are not part of it.