This book is based on the earliest manuscript version of THE BOOK OF GORLEY which Sumner began in 1904. (He was a major figure in the Arts & Crafts Movement of the 1880s & '90s in England.) It gives a picture of life on the edge of the New Forest in South Gorley, Hampshire, England, at the beginning of the 20th century. The book is Sumner's personal journal (with the text in faux handwriting and lavishly illustrated with the author's own superb watercolors), as well as a book of history, customs, nature and topography of the area. Just a bit of shelf wear on the book and rubbing on the plasticine cover protecting the dust jacket.