THE HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY VOL. 2: EXCERPTS FROM WILLEY'S BOOK OF NUTFIELD BY GEORGE F. WILLEY - LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Town of Londonderry, 1975-01-01. Hardcover. Very Good/Acceptable. Town of Londonderry, 1975. Vol. II. Excerpts from the text originally published in 1895.Hardcover, 181 pages. Black and white illustrations, portraits, maps (2 folded in pocket affixed to inside of back cover). Very good in good dust jacket. Blue cloth covered boards with silver lettering on spine. light bumping and scuffing to edges of covers. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has a 3" tear to the paper over the top edge of covers and several other small chips and tears and light creasing along edges. 1" scratched patch to paper over bottom of spine where a price sticker was removed. [From jacket flap] No history of Londonderry would be complete without the Book of Nutfield published by George Franklin Willey in 1895. Willey wrote about the people and places he knew, and when he tells of "busy modern life," we know that for him life was busy, challenging and successful. Not only did he relate the conventional facts and figures expected in a book of history, but he included some less profound but perhaps just as widely read items such as who courted whom for how long, and how well the parson could "hold his liquor." The Book of Nutfield sold for ten dollars when it was originally published, so today's reprint can be considered a bargain. As such it should appeal to those who have followed the original settlers of Londonderry and their descendants who, through their piety, industry, and inventiveness, have built a town with a distinctive character of its own. Many of the sights and scenes described in the book are recognizable today, and many readers, while they can't remember the people Willey wrote about, do sometimes know their children or grandchildren. Since familiar persons and places make exciting reading, the Book of Nutfield is still popular today. However, any book which has been out of print for eighty years becomes scarce, so Londonderry's Town History Committee is proud to offer this reproduction of the book, both for those who know it well and for those who have yet to discover its delightful style. The book goes back to the settling of Nutfield in 1719, but the bulk of its material, including many pictures and maps, begins where Parker's history left off and carries the story to the turn of the century. Only those portions which concern Londonderry have been included in this edition. This allows extra space for the reproduction of most of the early book's many photographs, some reorganization of material and a detailed table of contents. The Book of Nutfield is a vital link in the complete town history now in production. It will prepare the reader for the third volume which will pick up the historic thread in the early 1900's and carry it through to the present day. Volume III will be completed in 1976 in time for the bicentennial celebration of our country's life as a nation.