Patterson, A.H. — Man and Nature on Tidal Waters

Methuen & Co. London xiv, [2], 315, 47-ads, 4 b/w plates, 26 b/w illus. . HB. 8vo, orig. cloth, slightly rubbed to extremities, gilt title to spine and front board. Endpapers lightly browned, some scattered foxing; binding cracked but firm. Bookplate of John Hanson to endpaper. Blind stamp of F.T. Groom, bookseller, Bury St. Edmunds to flyleaf. Vg.. First edition. First edition. An engaging account of the natural history, traditional occupations and social life of the tidal waterways of eastern Norfolk, particularly Breydon Water and Great Yarmouth. Arthur Henry Patterson (1857-1935), the distinguished Norfolk naturalist and writer known as 'John Knowlittle', draws upon his extensive first-hand knowledge of the region to describe wildfowling, punt-gunning, eel-fishing, shrimping, mussel dredging, herring fishing and the lives of the local watermen. Particularly valuable for its lively recollections of local characters and its record of traditional coastal industries, several of which such as the Yarmouth whale fishery and traditional methods of fishing.were already disappearing at the time of publication. Patterson was conscious of these changes and recorded the experiences, conversations and stories of local people before they were lost.An interesting contribution to East Anglian natural and social history, illustrated with photographs and the author's delightful drawings..