Some Cotswold Country Houses

Dovecote Press, Wimborne, first edition, 1987. Cloth, 4to,. 157 pp, ills. From the blurb: "No one could be a more knowledgeable or entertaining guide to the country houses of the Cotswolds than James Lees-Milne. He was brought up in their shadow, for a while lived in one of the houses included in this book, and now lives beside the gates of another. As Adviser on Historic Houses to the National Trust, for whom he worked for thirty years, he became an influential authority on the history and architecture of the English country house. ..In his Introduction, James Lees-Milne remarks that 'Most, but not all, of the houses in this book I have known over a lifetime'. It is a lifetime that nearly spans the century, and it is this familiararity with the houses and friendship with many of the owners that makes him so sympathetic and engrossing a guide. Architecture and anecdotes mix happily together. The tastes and eccentricities of those who have occupied the houses leaven the scholarship. The twenty-eight houses represent a very personal selection: how else could one tackle an area so architecturally rich as the Cotswolds? If the omissions are many, the choice is distinctive. No period is neglected, no house too humble. Castle, palace and yeoman's manor all have a place, combining to call the roll on some of the most beautiful country houses in England. The book is illustrated with over 200 watercolours, engravings, portraits and photographs. Small booklabel and another blank label on front free endpaper, otherwise Very Good in Very Good price-clipped dustwrapper.