Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination by Ackroyd, Peter (Peter Warwick Ackroyd) (1949 - ) - 2002

London: Chatto & Windus, 2002. -----Bound in red cloth with gilt on spine, (xxii) 516 pages plus 16 pages of colour plates, full colour illustrated end papers, with b & w illustrations, no names, dust jacket is in Near Fine condition. "In an intricate, expertly crafted mixture of narratilve and theme, Peter Ackroyd travels through time & across cultural categories as he seeks out the roots & the essence of our aesthetic imagination. With an irrepressible curiousity & contagious enthusiasm, he moves from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf, Hogarth to Hockney, Inigo Jones to Edwin Lutyens, Purcell to Vaughan Williams. His lively biographical sketches and incisive exegeses of the work of figures both well known & less familiar deepen our understanding and appreciation of our inherited culture. It is a journey thorugh unexpected treasures, which includes a thought-provoking look at immigration and assimilation & a delightful digression into the English obesession with gardening." Any image directly beside this lisitng is the actaul book and not a stock photo. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hard Cover. Near Fine/NF. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾".