Wryde, J. Saxby “British Lighthouses: Their History and Romance” [T. Fisher Unwin, 1913]

WRYDE, J. SAXBY. British Lighthouses: Their History and Romance.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1913. First edition. 9” x 6”, 383pp with 73 illustrations. Publisher's blue cloth elaborately stamped in gilt to upper board and spine. A few small spots of foxing and light handling wear; binding sound and gilt unusually bright. Very Good.

Part history, part travel writing, and part maritime folklore, Wryde's survey traces the development of Britain's lighthouse service from early coastal beacons to the great engineering achievements of the nineteenth century. The work examines famous lights around England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, recounting shipwrecks, rescues, isolated lighthouse communities, and the technical challenges of building structures on some of the most dangerous coastlines in Europe. Illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings, it remains a useful snapshot of British lighthouse history in the years immediately preceding the First World War.