The Countrywoman's Year 1960 1st Edition Ravilious Hassall Illustrated
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
 
Title: The Countrywoman's Year
Editor: The Marchioness of Anglesey
Publisher: Michael Joseph, London
Date: 1960
Edition: First published edition
Printer: Tonbridge Printers Ltd., Peach Hall Works, Tonbridge, Kent
 
Beautifully produced and richly illustrated throughout with engravings and illustrations associated with Eric Ravilious, Joan Hassall, and other contributors connected with the Women’s Institute movement.
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context
 
This charming and substantial mid-century Women’s Institute volume celebrates traditional British rural life, seasonal customs, domestic crafts, cookery, gardening, and community culture across England and Wales.
 
The work was produced under the longstanding influence of the Marchioness of Anglesey and draws heavily upon the traditions and educational ethos of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes. Particularly notable is its connection with the famous “Country Wife” mural displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain before being transferred to Denman College.
 
The volume preserves many traditional domestic and rural skills that were already beginning to disappear by the mid-twentieth century, including butter making, smocking, corn dollies, Dorset feather stitchery, glove making, hedgerow basketry, quilting, mead production, jam making, and home wine making.
 
Of particular collector interest are the illustrations and engravings associated with both Eric Ravilious and Joan Hassall, two of the most admired British illustrators and wood engravers of the twentieth century. Their work gives the volume strong appeal to collectors of British illustration, rural design, Women’s Institute history, and mid-century decorative books.
 
About the Illustrators
 
Eric Ravilious was a celebrated British artist and wood engraver best known for his distinctive rural and wartime imagery.
 
Joan Hassall was an acclaimed British wood engraver and illustrator associated with fine press and literary illustration.
 
Binding & Exterior Description
 
No dust jacket included.
 
Bound in red cloth with gilt lettering and small gilt decorative details to the spine.
 
The binding remains intact, robust, and attractive, with light age-related wear including:
light rubbing, mostly at the edges 
a few very small marks 
small patches of rubbing 
 
A pleasing and decorative mid-century production with strong shelf appeal.
 
Interior Condition
 
There are coloured pastedowns and endpapers.
 
The pages are lightly tanned, with patches of tanning to the half-title page and some of the endpapers. There is some pencil to the half-title page, but no further pen or pencil marks internally.
 
The pages are overall very neat and clean and predominantly uncreased. Only a few pages contain small marks that do not affect the text or illustrations. There are no rips to the pages.
 
All 346 pages are present and accounted for, including the final full-page engraving on page 346.
 
The pages are tightly bound throughout.
 
Physical Details
 
Pages: 346
Dimensions: Approximately 22.1 cm x 14.4 cm x 3.3 cm
Weight: Approximately 540 g
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
 
This work is best described as uncommon in such well-preserved condition.
 
While copies do appear periodically on the market, examples retaining attractive cloth bindings and clean interiors are increasingly desirable, particularly among collectors of:
Women’s Institute history 
British social history 
rural craft and cookery books 
Eric Ravilious material 
Joan Hassall illustration 
Festival of Britain associated works 
 
The combination of practical domestic content, rural nostalgia, and notable British illustration gives the book enduring collector appeal.