GWR books and booklets
Legend Land
'Being a [further]collection of some of the OLD TALES told in those Western Parts of Britain served by the GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY, now retold by LYONESSE'
During 1922 the GWR produced a series of 48 leaflets on the legends of Britain, all being written by G.B.Barham under the pseudonym 'Lyonesse'. These leaflets were sold in sets of twelve held together in a paper sleeve. Later in the year the first 24 leaflets were collected together and reissued as volumes one and two of this short series. These two small books were printed by Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Company Limited of New Street Square in London and were priced at sixpence each. Volumes three and four followed in 1923, also priced at sixpence, but this time printed by by Kellly & Kelly of Moor Lane in London. All four volumes followed the same design and format, each containing 12 of the 48 tales together with a supplement which took the form of a description and the words and music for a traditional song. All four volumes had a map printed on the inside covers indicating the location of the subject of each tale and the page upon which it could be found, six at the front and the other six at the back. Also shown was the location for the songs, but volume one included it on the front map whilst the others included it at the back.
In addition to copies of the four collected volumes, we have loose leaflets 1 to 24 in our collection.
~~ Click or tap on the leaflets thumbnail to see a gallery of images ~~
The desciption of 'Western Parts' is perhaps a trifle misleading as, although many tales originate from Devon and Cornwall, there are included tales from both north and south Wales, Oxfordshire, and even Reading and Windsor in volume four.
Front map page from Volume One
Back map page from Volume One
