I Enjoy Looking At And Reading Old Books,

and in fact collect books about fish and fishkeeping,

I also collect books by the Reverend J. G. Wood, there are a number of post about the books here, not only are some for myself interesting, the covers and binding on some of them make them attractive in their own right, like the one above,

part of a set of 4 divisions, titled Lancashire and Cheshire Past and Present by Thomas Baines; William Fairbairn c1867 published by William Mackenzie : London 12" by 10",

this is a first edition, as printed in the original four divisions, 

from the blurb, it is a history and a description of the palatine counties of Lancaster and Chester, forming the north-western division of England from earliest ages to 1867, with an account of the rise and progress of manufactures and commerce, and civil and mechanical engineering in these districts,

written by the active promoter of liberal interests in Lancashire, Thomas Baines. A journalist and historian, Baines wrote valuable histories of northern areas including Liverpool, Lancashire and Yorkshire and his histories are characterised by fullness of detail,

illustrated, with a frontispiece, engraved title page and five plates to division I, six plates to division II, a frontispiece, engraved title page and four plates to division III, and eight plates to division IV,

with eighteen full page plates of views, plans and technology taken from original drawings by H. Warren, with a series of seven engraved portraits. All illustrations have their original tissue guards. Collated, complete. A smart set, in the publisher's original binding. To this work, William Fairbairn has written an account on the progress of commerce and engineering in these areas. Fairbairn was an important engineer and shipbuilder in the nineteenth century. A nice, first edition set of this work. Uncommon in the original divisions, it was £235.00, all 4 divisions now offered for £114.00 at Rooke Books, who I have used a number of times before and found their service and descriptions first class.