James Herriot Novels Added to MacMillan Collector’s Library
James Herriot Novels Added to MacMillan Collector’s Library
Works of Yorkshire writer included next to Austen and Dickens
Two of Yorkshire writer James Herriot‘s most famous novels, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to A Vet, have been released in specially-crafted editions.
The books have been selected for inclusion in the new Macmillan Collector’s Library, a highly-collectable selection of beautifully-crafted editions of classic books.
If Only They Could Talk is the first volume of the classic series in which the young James Herriot, fresh out of veterinary college, arrives in the sleepy village of Darrowby, and encounters unexpected challenges, including his new colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, gruff farmers and herds of semi-feral cattle. Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen has written the afterword.
“It is delicious to see gilt edges again”
It Shouldn’t Happen to A Vet continues the story, as James tries so persuade his clients to let him use his ‘modern’ equipment, becomes an uncle to a pig called Nugent, and, of course, meets Helen, later to become his wife. Carol Drinkwater, who played Helen in the TV series, has written the afterword.
Not just beautiful to look at, but also to hold and to read, the The Macmillan Collector’s Library Publisher, Harriet Sanders, set out to create editions that would ‘feel special and do justice to the stories you treasure’. The books do both look and feel beautiful, with gilt edges, sumptuous cloth bindings, ribbon bookmarks, and arts-and-crafts-style endpapers.
Author Joanna Trollope says: “The print is so clear… the paper is a lovely quality… and it is delicious to see gilt edges again. I am sure these editions will be a wildfire success.”
‘If Only They Could Talk’ and ‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’ by James Herriot are published in February 2017, £9.99 hardback, ISBNS: 9781509824892 and 9781509824908