LATE 1980s, EARLY 1990s ORIGINAL SCRAPBOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND POSTCARDS ALONGSIDE A HISTORY OF THE BUILDINGS AND LANDMARKS OF A NOTED AND STORIED BRITISH ISLE

On offer is a handmade book and love-letter of sorts to the Island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel. In it’s pages, the author, Julia Abel Smith, has written a tremendous amount of information, not on the local flora and fauna which have been written about many times, but on the local history and buildings that the author believes make Lundy Island one of the most unique places on Earth. The book seems to have been compiled around the late 1980s/early 1990s. There are 15 chapters in all. Two of the chapters are on the local history, while the rest are on the local landmarks on the island. The chapters included in the book are as such: “History of Lundy Island,” “The Barn,” “Bramble Villa,” “The Castle,” “The Castle Cottage,” “Government House,” “Hanmers,” “Millcombe House,” “The Old LIght,” “The Old House and Square Cottage,” “The Old School,” “St. John’s Cottage,” “Stoneycroft,” “Tibbetts,” and “Lundy’s Ship - The MS Oldenburg,” as well as a small chapter of acknowledgements. The chapters are usually only four or five pages of writing long. The Old Light, dealing with the history of the Beacon Hill Lighthouse is the longest at eight pages of writing. However, many of these chapters include pages of photographs dealing with the subject of the chapter, usually with a caption describing the photograph and the date taken. These include photographs of the interior of the Millcombe House, the building of the “corrugated iron church” (Church of St. Helena) and many others, usually taken around the late 19th century. Each page in this book is typed and put into a laminated page-cover that is bound to the spine. From the small “acknowledgements” chapter, the author has stated that “the information for these notes was taken from ‘Lundy’ by A & M Langham, ‘My Life on Lundy’ by Felix Gade, ‘A Lundy Album’ compiled by Myrtle Langham and ‘The Illustrated Lundy News, 1970 - 1975’....The photographs come from the collection of Anthony Langham who kindly edited the text.” Included with the main text of the book, the book also contains a full-page map of Lundy Island with a key showing the location of the landmarks written about in the book, a number more photographs of scenes around Lundy (“Lundy Working Horses c.1900”; “The Hall at Millcombe c.1898”; Interior of Corrugated Iron Church c.1898”; etc.), three pamphlets from the island, (“Lundy Field Society: An Introduction to Lundy Grey Seals,” “Lundy Field Society: An Introduction to Lundy Underwater Life,” and “The Lundy Bobbitt,”) a page on yellow paper of “Test Drive Results” for the restaurant “Smugglers” on occasion of the “Wedding Anniversary Dinner” (date: August 5, 1992) of Barry and Wendy Wheeler. The “Performance Ratings” of the restaurant are very tongue-in-cheek. It is unclear why this has been included in the book, other than “Smugglers” is on Lundy Island. Barry and Wendy Wheeler are most probably friends of the author. There are also included: A number of postcards sent to “Nigel & Lindsey”. These two are most probably the original owners of this book. Included as well: 4 pages of “Recipe for Lundy Island” from “Caterveg Issue 2”. There are also two typed pages describing the “Lundy Island Brewery” and the process by which it makes beer, and “The Marisco Tavern” (“the centre of island life”). Both pages contain a small square card bearing the respective names of the establishments. Finally, the last page of the book is a hand drawn picture of 3 Atlantic Puffins, in an amateur but accomplished style. In the beginning of the book, there are 3 loose issues of the Illustrated Lundy News from 1972 and 1973 and the first issue of the Lundy Island Chronicle (volume 1, No. 1) from 1983. The book is roughly 70 pages in length, of which 65 or have typed pages, photographs or ephemera in the laminated sheet. All the pages are typed and in excellent shape. The pages are contained within a simple black leather cover. I mentioned before that the “Nigel & Linzi” are most probably the previous owners of this book. They may have commissioned the history of the island or managed to find it already published. Research into who Nigel and Linzi has led me to believe that they were at one time the proprietors of the Marisco Tavern and (possibly) the “Smugglers” restaurant review contained within the book. From the Telegraph: Nigel Walker and Linzi Takagi... After a long career in catering and pub management (they ran the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor, followed by the Marisco Tavern on Lundy Island), Nigel and Linzi moved to Ilfracombe nine years ago. Having bought a house in the town, they leased a former fish shop on the High Street, and slowly converted it to sell hand-made confectionery, produced in a workshop on the premises... (Historical Notes: Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel. It lies 12 miles (19 km) off the coast of Devon, England, in the district of Torridge, about a third of the distance across the channel from Devon, England to South Wales. Lundy gives its name to a British sea area and is one of the islands of England. Lundy has been designated by Natural England as national character area 159, one of England's natural regions. In 2007, Lundy had a resident population of 28 people, including volunteers. These include a warden, ranger, island manager and farmer, as well as bar and house-keeping staff. Most live in and around the village at the south of the island. Most visitors are day-trippers, although there are 23 holiday properties and a camp site for staying visitors, mostly also around the south of the island.); Manuscript; Folio - over 12" - 15" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, LUNDY ISLAND, NIGEL WALKER, LINZI TAGAKI, JULIA ABEL SMITH, BRITISH ISLE HISTORY, BRISTOL CHANNEL, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, UK, ENGLAND, MARINE NATURE RESERVE, BRITISH LANDMARK TRUST, SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST, MARISCO CASTLE, MILLCOMBE HOUSE, BUILDINGS ON BRITISH ISLANDS, LISTED BUILDINGS, ILLUSTRATED LUNDY NEWS, BRITANNICA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D’ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL