The Costume of Yorkshireorder this book
George Walker
Price £40.00

George Walker's The Costume of Yorkshire was first published in 1814, with a second but limited edition being brought out in 1885, since which time it has been out of print. Although virtually unknown in its own right because of its unavailability, the book has become famous through the use of its colour illustrations in a number of works on economic and social history. It contains forty colour plates, each depicting an aspect of Yorkshire life in 1814, accompanied by a page or more of explanatory text. A wide range of economic and social topics is covered, and because of its subject matter and date, the book is indispensable for an understanding of the industrialisation occurring at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The combination of delightful four colour plates reproduced from the original 1814 edition, and George Walker's fascinating commentary on contemporary social life, should ensure that the book will have a wide general readership.

"Rape Threshing" [see above reproduction of book cover] :

"Of all the rural occupations there is none more cheerful and joyous than the one here represented. Rape is much grown in Yorkshire, and particularly in newly enclosed land. It is always an uncertain crop, but is in general very productive, being not unfrequently equal in value to the fee simple of the land. When ripe, the seed is so liable to waste and scatter, that it is usual to have it threshed upon the open field in which it is grown. Large sheets are spread for this purpose, and , as the operation must necessarily be completed with all possible dispatch, some hundreds of people are frequently employed, who are bountifully supplied at short intervals with meat and drink. Some are reapers, some carriers, or, as they are termed in Yorkshire, huggers, and some threshers; while the rest are variously employed in forking, sifting, and, lastly, putting the seed into sacks. The threshing is performed by a number of men, two abreast, who move in a large circle. The two leaders, gaily dressed out with coloured ribbands in their hats by way of distinction, move backwards; the next two face them; and so on alternately the whole party. Two women near the foreground are seen running away from a huge load of rape, which the waggish huggers are conspiring to bury them under. This is one of the long established jokes upon these riotously merry occasions."

ISBN 0904573060. Hardback, 101 pages.

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