Portrait of (book series)
The Portrait of books is a series of topographical works describing the cities, counties, and regions of Britain and some of the regions of France. The series was published by Robert Hale from the early 1960s to the mid 1980s and is part of a genre of topographical books in which Robert Hale specialised.
Its immediate predecessors were the County Books and Regional Books series while the Regions of Britain series was published contemporaneously in the 1970s. There was also a Villages series. A number of the Portrait series were republished in new editions titled "The Illustrated Portrait of...".
Described variously as neither literature, a history, or a guide book, the works attempted to sum-up the atmosphere of their area, and "the lives of its people, past and present".
The artwork for a number of the series dust jackets were designed by illustrator Val Biro.
This is an incomplete list of titles. Each title was prefixed with the words "Portrait of".Aberdeen and Deeside by Cuthbert Graham Argyll and Southern Hebrides by David Graham-Campbell Avon by John Haddon Bath by John Haddon Bedfordshire by David H. Kennett Birmingham by Vivian Bird The Black Country by Harold Parsons The Border Country by Nigel Tranter Brecon Beacons by Edmund. J. Mason Bristol by Keith Brace The Broads by J. Wentworth Day Buckinghamshire by John Camp The Burns Country and Galloway &c. by Hugh Douglas Cambridge by Charles Richard Benstead Cambridgeshire by Stanley Arthur Manning Caithness and Sutherland by James Miller Canterbury by John Boyle Cardiff and its Valleys by Brian Dicks The Channel Islands by Raoul Lempriere Cheshire by David Bethel Chester by David Bethel The Chilterns by Elizabeth Cull The Clyde by Jack House Cornwall by Claude Berry The Cotswolds by Edith Brill Coventry by E. B. Newbold Cumbria by J. D. Marshall The Dales by Norman Duerden Dartmoor by Vian Smith The River Derwent by Walt Unsworth Devon by D. St. Leger-Gordon Dorset by Ralph Wightman County Durham by Peter A. White Edinburgh by Ian Nimmo Epping Forest by Sir William Addison Essex by Stanley Arthur Manning Exeter by Bryan Little Exmoor by J. H. B. Peel The Fen Country by Edward Storey Glasgow by Maurice Lindsay Gloucestershire by T. A. Ryder Gower by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas Hampshire by Noreen O'Dell Hertfordshire by Brian J. Bailey The Highlands by W. Douglas Simpson The Howgills and the Upper Eden Valley by Michael Ffinch Humberside by Ivan E. Broadhead The Isle of Man by Ernest H. Stenning The Isle of Wight by Lawrence Wilson The Isles of Scilly by Clive Mumford Kendal and the Kent Valley by Michael Ffinch The Lakes by Norman Nicholson Lancashire by Jessica Lofthouse Leeds by Brian Thompson Leicestershire by Brian J. Bailey Limerick by Mainchín Seoighe Lincolnshire by Michael Lloyd Liverpool by Howard Channon London by Robert Clayton London River by Basil E. Cracknell The Lothians by Nigel Tranter Manchester by Michael Kennedy The Moray Firth by Cuthbert Graham The New Forest by Brian Vesey-FitzGerald Norfolk by David Yaxley North Wales by Michael Senior North York Moors by Nicholas Rhea North Yorkshire by Colin Speakman Northamptonshire by Peter Gorham Webb Northumberland by Nancy Ridley Nottingham by Emrys Bryson Oxford by Hal Cheetham Oxfordshire by Christine Bloxham Peakland by Crichton Porteous Pembrokeshire by Dillwyn Miles The Pennines by Roger A. Redfern Penrith and the East Fellside by Michael Ffinch Perth, Angus and Fife by David Graham-Campbell The Potteries by Bill Morland Plymouth by J. C. Trewin The Quantocks by Vincent Waite River Medway by Roger Penn The River Trent by Peter Lord The Scott Country by Marion Lochhead The Severn by J. H. B. Peel The Shakespeare Country by J. C. Trewin Sheffield by B. Bunker The Shires by Bernard Newman Shropshire by Brian J. Bailey Skye and the Outer Hebrides by W. Douglas Simpson Snowdonia by Cledwyn Hughes The Solent by Barry Shurlock Somerset by Bryan Little South Wales by Michael Senior The Spey by Francis G. Thompson Suffolk by Allan Jobson Surrey by Basil E. Cracknell Sussex by Cecile Woodford The Thames by J. H. B. Peel West Yorkshire by Margaret Slack Wiltshire by Pamela Street Windermere by Christopher D. Taylor Wirral by Kenneth Burley Worcestershire by Peter J. Neville Havins Wordsworth Country by Roland Sands Wye Valley by Harry Luff Verne Fletcher York by Ronald Willis Yorkshire by Harry J. Scott The Yorkshire Ouse by Ivan E. Broadhead