Description
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain in 3 volumes
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain is an account of his travels by English author Daniel Defoe, first published in three volumes between 1724 and 1727.
It is roughly divided into several tours around Britain. Volume 1 contains three letters. The first two, Through Essex, Colchester, Harwich, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, and through Kent Coast, Maidstone, Canterbury, Sussex, Hampshire, and Surrey, are complete circuits, both beginning and ending in London. Letter 3 describes a journey out to Land’s End, while Letter 4 starts Volume 2 with the journey back. Letter 5 focuses on London and the Court. Volume 2 ends with Letters 6 and 7 describing a path out to Anglesey and back. Finally, in Volume 3, the narrator begins at the Trent or the Mersey and slowly travels northwards from the Midlands, taking up Letters 8 through 10. Finally, Scotland is divided into three convenient units for Letters 11 through 13.
Defoe did not necessarily travel to all of these locations, and certainly did not travel them as or just before he was writing the work; rather, he relied on his past journeys, likely during his time as a merchant or while working for politician Robert Harley in the early eighteenth century, and, at times, relied on or was inspired by other travel literature such as William Camden’s Britannia and John Strype’s new version of John Stow’s Survey of London.
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About Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (1660 – 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Why buy A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain in 3 volumes from Daker Books?
Daker Books is an independent bookshop in the village of Kibworth, south Leicestershire, specialising in rare and collectable treasures, signed copies, pre-loved and beautiful editions. We have a large collection of Folio Society books too. We pride ourselves on our friendly, professional service and place customer relations and environmental sustainability at the heart of business.
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Folio Society books
Daker Books wants to help its customers seek out second-hand books of the highest quality. To aid in this goal, we have identified that The Folio Society produces books that many of our regular visitors desire. For over 70 years, The Folio Society has published beautiful, illustrated editions of the world’s greatest books. They aim to produce unique books that are outstanding in both their literary content and physical form, and that will grace every bookshelf.
We currently have a large number of out-of-print Folio Society books and are increasing our stock all the time. Please check out our stock at the link below, and if you’re looking for something that we don’t have, we’d be delighted to source it for you.