Eyre & Spottiswoode (London, UK)
Series dates: 1940-1942
Size: 8.75″ x 6″
The Country Library series name has been used by publisher Frederick Warne (UK, 1866-1884), Appleton (US, 1888-1902), and N.S.W. Bookstall (Australia, 1920s).
The UK’s Eyre & Spottiswoode’s Country Library was issued briefly, from 1940-1942, with a total of six titles issued with at least one reprint. I can find no advertisements for the series. All the titles were previously published by Eyre & Spottiswoode (original publication years indicated below). Some of the titles were reissued after WW2 but not as part of the series.
Titles in Eyre & Spottiswoode’s Country Library along with their original year of publication by Eyre & Spottiswoode and year of publication in the series include:
1940
Country Calendar, by A.G. Street, illustrated by Lionel Edwards (original edition, 1935; reprint, 1942)
Flax: Police Dog, by Svend Fleuron, illustrated by Cecil Aldin (original edition, 1931)
Riding and Hunting, for Those Who Can’t Afford It, by Hugh B.C. Pollard, illustrated by Gilbert Holiday (original edition, 1938)
1942
A Year of My Life, by A.G. Street (original edition, 1939)
Sky Gipsy: The Story of a Wild Goose, by BB (Denys James Watkins-Pitchford), illustrations by D.J. Watkins-Pitchford (original edition, 1939)
The Sportsman’s Bedside Book, by Denys Watkins-Pitchford; illustrated by G.D. Armour (original edition, 1939)
A copy of Riding and Hunting by Hugh B.C. Pollard (1940) is shown below. Jackets for the series are common in design but do have a unique illustration centered on the front of each jacket. The series name is included on the jacket spine and front. The front jacket flap includes reviews from earlier editions of the book, and a price (in this case 6′- net price sticker over the original price).
The back of the jacket advertises three additional titles from the series. The Sportsman’s Bedside Book may have been published earlier than 1942 (in 1940, with the title illustrated here) but I can’t find a copy with that earlier date.
Green cloth binding with yellow-orange typography, including the series name, on the spine.
The book has a blank half-title page, followed by an illustration facing the title page. The series name is indicated at the top of the title page. A 1940 date is included above the publisher’s imprint.
“First Published, 1931, Reprinted, 1938, Reprinted for ‘The Country Library’ 1940.”
