Preface: When we first undertook to report the state of the Agriculture of the the County of Hants, we were not altogether aware of the time and attention it would require, to make a complete and particular statement of the whole county; and we find from experience, the more we investigated the subject, the wider the field expanded to our view.

From the text: In the neighbourhood of Lymington, the land is very irregular, the hills in general poor; and the meadow rich; their chief manure is marle and chalk, but sea weed might be introduced to great advantage, by mixing it with farmyard dung, or mould.

Lymington was formerly famous for a number of salterns, which are now reduced to two or three, being a very precarious trade, on account of the unsettled state of this climate.

A Guide To The Coasts Of Hants And Dorset by Mackenzie Walcott details the towns, villages and places of interest from Portsmouth in the East, through the Isle of Wight to Lyme Regis in the West.

The New Forest is represented and includes descriptions of walks, and rides along with journeys by rail and water. Interesting areas include Buckland Rings and Southampton's ancient walls.

From the author: "....We would hope that our pages pointing out the objects of real interest, and recalling those events and men which have given life, and the modes of thought which have imparted a romance to places, that may meet a welcome from the reader."

A fascinating book of routes through Hampshire and other southern counties.

Routes include:
Alton to Winchester
London to Winchester and Southampton via South Western Railway
Southampton to Salisbury
Southampton to Dorchester via the New Forest
Brockenhurst to Lymington, Christchurch and Bournemouth
Ringwood to Fordingbridge.

From the author: "The handbooks for the counties of Surrey and Hampshire, have been drawn up from a careful personal exploration of the country, and from the most recent information that could be obtained."

Francis Orpen Morris (1810-1893) was a Church of England clergyman and naturalist.

The book, A History of British Butterflies, was the standard butterfly book of the second half of the 19th-centruy, and today is considered a lepidopterological classic. The book includes stunningly detailed colour drawings of all the listed species.

From the author: "There is no one, whether old or young, or of whatever circumstances or rank in life, who can look without any feeling or emotion on the handiworks of Creation which surround him—who can behold a rich sunset, a storm, the sea, a tree, a mountain, a river, a rainbow, a flower, without some degree of admiration, and some measure of thought."

Prideaux John Selby (1788-1867)

British Forest Trees was illustrated with wood engravings, which were based on his work planting his estate at Twizell House in Northumberland. The book was a landmark in arboriculture when it was published in 1842.

Selby was very gifted as an artist. He showed a great interest in ornithology from an early age and made his own notes and careful, coloured drawings of the birds in his district... his main interests were ornithology, forestry, and entomology.

The history of every county has been affected to some extent by its natural features, and this is especially the case in respect to that county whose history is sketched in this volume.

The County of Southampton or Hampshire has been much favoured by nature, and its natural advantages must have commended it to its early inhabitants, whose connection with it are traced in these pages.

Hampshire is, and always has been, a woodland county, and its forests have been much concerned with its history. The materials for the History of Hampshire are more abundant than those of most English counties, as will be seen in the following pages.

We have boldly written A History of Salisbury on the title-page of this little book, although in truth that name seems too grandiloquent for so small and unaspiring an effort. Yet we are fain to hope that there may be nothing repellent in so proud a title.

Dip into our book, turn its modest pages and you shall find there no formidable string of dates, no lists of names of dead and forgotten worthies, no collection of dry-as-dust bric-a-brac, but a guide to simple facts, a handbook to tell you something of the beauties and the antiquities of this city, along with such necessary information as to its history as may perhaps elucidate the position from which we view it.

During a residence of several years in the immediate neighbourhood of Southampton free access to the Town Records was given me by the courtesy of the town authorities, of which I availed myself as opportunities offered.

Towards the close of 1877 it was suggested by the present publishers that I should undertake a history of the town, or at least, on obtaining permission, should edit the MS. of Dr. Speed's History among the Southampton Archives, continuing the work, and adding such matter as should bring it into conformity
with present knowledge.

James Francis Stephens (1792-1853)

A manual of British Coleoptera, or beetles; containing a brief description of all the species of beetles hitherto ascertained to inhabit Great Britain and Ireland; together with a notice of their chief localities, times and places of appearances.

From the author: In this collection are included, in fine condition, the original specimens described in the "Coleoptera Britannica" of Marsham, and also by far the greater portion of those subsequently named or monographed by Kirby and Leach. As well as of all the obscure species described by Haworth in "Lepidoptera Britannica".

This work had its origin in a book published circa 1790, entitled 'A Companion in a Tour Round Lymington,' by the Rev J Warner.

This, in the course of years, having become entirely obsolete, and almost forgotten, was made the foundation of the first edition of the present work, being altered and re-arranged so as to suit the changes and improvements which had been gradually taking place.

The town of Lymington is situated on the south-west-coast of Hampshire, at the extremity of the New Forest; through which lies the principal road leading from it to Southampton. Few spots in the kingdom can boast a greater portion of picturesque views, or beautiful and romantic scenery

An account of several curious remains of antiquity existing in the Town of Southampton, and which had either been totally unnoticed, or only very slightly mentioned, in the descriptions of that place hitherto published.

The author has ventured into the field of antiquarian research. But insists that: "not for a moment suppose that I aspire at the dignity of a historian of the place; a task for which neither my researches nor abilities have by any means qualified me".

Two major editions exist. This is the second edition with additional reseach. The author was aided by The Society of Antiquaries.

An account of several curious remains of antiquity existing in the Town of Southampton, and which had either been totally unnoticed, or only very slightly mentioned, in the descriptions of that place hitherto published.

The author has ventured into the field of antiquarian research. But insists that: "not for a moment suppose that I aspire at the dignity of a historian of the place; a task for which neither my researches nor abilities have by any means qualified me".

Two major editions exist. This is the first edition.

Afoot in England recounts Hudson's wanderings from village to village across the south of England, from Surrey to Devon and Cornwall, and along the East Anglian coast. It speaks as powerfully today of the simple pleasures of the English countryside as when it was first published in 1909.

About half the matter contained in this volume has appeared in various papers and periodicals—The Saturday Review, The Speaker, The Morning Post. One article in the English Review. One in Longman's Magazine. The chapter entitled “ Rural Rides ” is based on a Saturday Review paper, which was afterwards included in a volume edited by Mr. Harold Hodge, entitled Recreations and Reflections. I have to thank the editors for permission to make use of this material.

An Old Woman's Outlook is a book of essays, one for each month of the year, on different aspects of life in Otterbourne in 1890, including the neighbouring parish of Hursley.

Sample: May Day 1890. Once boys in Devonshire were licensed to drench with water from cows' horns whoever did not wear a spray of maythorn. I can just remember a lady coming in, indignant and dripping. In Hampshire, however, it has often dwindled to small children wandering about with an untidy bunch of king-cups and cuckoo flowers at the end of a stick, quavering shrilly out "April's gone, May's come, Come and see our garland"

A description of antiquities around Southern Hampshire and The New Forest dated 1846.

From the Author: "The following Sketches, which were originally written for, and appeared in the Hampshire Advertiser Newspaper, have assumed their present form in compliance with the expressed wishes of many of their readers. Since their first publication, they have been carefully revised, and extended, so as to embrace a notice of every parish within the limits of the county."

Hampshire, or, according to legal documents, the County ot Southampton, is the eighth of the counties of England in respect to extent, and fifteenth as regard population.

Autumn in The New Forest. The book aims to convey the pleasure found in wandering autumn hedges in all of their colour and form, with a spectacular index that lets you know where to find mentions ‘Stillness, Charm of’, ‘Gold of encrusting Lichen’, ‘Peaches, Tempting’ and our personal favourite, ‘The dying splendour of the sun.’

Francis George Heath (1843-1913) is the author of Tree Lore, Our Woodland Trees, Autumnal Leaves, Peasant Life and Fairy Plants. Heath was an enthusiastic lover of nature, and interested a large number of people in trees, plants and shrubbery through their poetic language and descriptions of the natural world. [Described here by 'The Nature Library']

From the text: A very considerable proportion of Hampshire is occupied by the Forest of Alice Holt and Woolmer, the Forest of Bere, and the New Forest.

The New Forest is particularly celebrated in history. Its present appellation has an evident reference to the alteration made in its extent by the Conqueror, but a more ancient name of this district was Itene, or Y Thene: it was also called Natanleod, from the British chieftain, who was here conquered by Cerdic, the founder of the West Saxon Monarchy.

The Mineral productions of Hampshire are but few, and those mostly confined to the cliffs on the sea coast, particularly in the neighbourhood of Lymington, Hordwell, and Christchurch.

C G Harper (1863 to 1943) 

From the arthor: This is a modest, gossipy and allusive sketch of a delightful part of England, designed rather to arouse the interest and the curiosity of those not already acquainted with what I will call the " Middle West " than to fully satisfy it.

The Wessex of which I shall treat in these pages is that Wessex of romance and of the great dairy-farms, which has been little touched by the influence of railways. Hampshire and Wiltshire, Winchester and Salisbury have become too closely in touch with London to stand so fully upon the ancient ways.

But in these rural territories the countryman still talks the old broad Do'set and Zummerzet speech, in which the letter "o" in every possible circumstance becomes "a" as you will perceive in that old rhyme beginning:

Wessex
A harnet zet in a holler tree,
A proper spiteful twoad was he.
And thus he zung as he did zet,
"My sting is as zharp as a bagginet."

Quoted by the author: This book is dedicated to my brothers and to to those who have been shore-shooting with me in Norfolik and elsewhere, and whose names in some cases appear in the text.

It is intended mainly for the edification of amateur collectors and shore-shooters.

Time was when the possession of a good collection of stuffed birds tended to distinguish a man as a Naturalist; today he is more likely to find himself regarded as a cold-blooded and heartless butcher......

The year is 1819. 40 years before trains and 80 years before cars. A revealing description of life and travel before mechanised transport. This "Complete County Itinerary" is an interesting book for both the casual reader and researchers looking for a concise exploration of life in the early 19th century.

Aurthor: Sidney Heath (b1872)
Artist: Ernest William Haslehurst (b1866)

From the arthor:The scenery which impresses most of us is certainly that in which Nature is seen in her wild and primitive condition, telling us of growth and decay, and of the land's submission to eternal laws unchecked by the hand of man.

Yet we also feel a certain pleasure in the contemplation of those scenes which combine natural beauty with human artifice, and attest to the ability with which architectural science has developed Nature's virtues and concealed natural disadvantages.

Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs.

From the text: THE NEW FOREST PONY - ....The type has been subjected to change by the introduction of Thoroughbred and Arab blood. The large proportion of greys, many of them flea-bitten, among a great variety of colours, is traced to the latter origin. There are not many duns, and but few piebalds left.

The New Forest Pony is below the level of the Dartmoor and Exmoor in the quality of its head and shoulders. Its hocks and feet are, however, both good. In height, the different types, in different sections of the Forest, range from about 12-2 to 13-2 hands, although, when one is removed at weaning, and well attended to during the first two winters, it may rise to 14-I and make an excellent trapper.

This is the first and second editions combined. So has been extended from the original 55 pages to the complete work here of 266 pages.

From the author: In this small book I am making but brief references to a few points of interest to the general public touching the acquisition of land.

From the text: A purchaser of land has an object in his purchase. If he buys for income, he must not be too particular to insist on beauty; if he buys for occupation he must make the basis of value a correspondence between the advantages the property possesses, and his requirements. If he buys for speculation he must consider the prospective results by development whether it be in minerals, or ground rents, or anything else; but if he buys for luxury he must regard it then from an aesthetic standpoint.

From the arthor: The county of Hants, at the earliest period of which any reliable records exist, was occupied by a Celtic tribe called by Roman writers the Belgae, who also possessed the counties of Wiltshire and Somersetshire. The greater part of the county was covered with trackless forests, in which herds of deer and wild hogs roamed, and was very thinly inhabited by the people who hunted them.

From the text: The New Forest - According to the perambulation made in the twenty-second year of the reign of Chartes II, the Forest extended from Godshill, on the north-west, to the sea, about twenty miles ; and from Hardley, on the east, to Ringwood. on the west, about fifteen miles, the entire area comprising ninety-two thousand three hundred and sixty-five acres.

Cradock Nowell Volume 1: A tale of the New Forest is a three-volume novel by R. D. Blackmore published in 1866. Set in the New Forest and in London, it follows the fortunes of Cradock Nowell who is thrown out of his family home by his father following the suspicious death of Cradock's twin brother Clayton.

Extract Volume 1:
The good nurse fell against a chest of drawers, as she uttered this loud lament. The colour ebbed from her cherry cheeks, and her sturdy form shook with terror. She had scarcely turned her back, she could swear upon her precious charges, and now-only look at the murder of it!"