Keswick Books

Like "Coast", the book is a celebration of the British landscape, specifically the Lake District, and it tells the remarkable story of Alfred Wainwright who in 1952, decided to hand draw a series of guides to the fells of Lakeland. For the next 13 years, he spent every weekend walking, and every weekday evening drawing and writing - completing one page per night. The result was Wainwright's "Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells". Although initially self published they have now sold over a million copies and are still popular and much loved today. He went on to present a series of TV shows on the BBC about walking in the Lake District that made him even better known. Like Fred Dibnah he was an unlikely celebrity, he preferred his own company and thought walking in the countryside should be a solitary rather than group pursuit. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth and this TV series and book are sure to introduce him to a new generation of lovers of the countryside. It fe...

This anniversary edition of the best-selling Wainwright Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells turns back the clock fifty years to show his work as it must have looked when it was first penned. Until now, every edition of the guides has been based on images from metal plates. As the plates became worn through years of reprinting, the images lost sharpness and subtlety. Here for the first time the pages have been re-originated from the author's artwork and can be seen in their full glory once more. The paper used in the guides, and the bindings of each book, have also been matched as closely as possible to the first edition. In November 2004 Frances Lincoln will be issuing a special boxed set of the seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. This will be contained in a card slipcase, illustrated in the style of the Wainwright books and shrinkwrapped.