CAMBRIDGE LIBRARY COLLECTION Books of enduring scholarly value History The books reissued in this series include accounts of historical events and movements by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, as well as landmark studies that assembled significant source materials or developed new historiographical methods. The series includes work in social, political and military history on a wide range of periods and regions, giving modern scholars ready access to influential publications of the past. The Amateur Poacher Richard Jefferies (1848-87) remains one of the most thoughtful and most lyrical writers on the English countryside. lie had aspirations to make a living as a novelist, but it was his short factually based articles for The Live Stock Journal and other magazines, drawn lrom a wealth ol knowledge of the rural community into which he had been born, which when brought together in book form brought him recognition (though not wealth) and which continued to be read and admired after his early death. The Gamekeeper at Home (also reissued in this series) and The Amateur Poacher were both collections of essays in the style of reminiscences of a rural way of life which, though never idyllic, was by the 1870s beginning to undergo a period of rapid change, through both the onset of mechanisation and agricultural depression. Cambridge University Press has long been a pioneer in the reissuing ol out-of-print titles from its own backlist, producing digital reprints of books that are still sought after by scholars and students but could not be reprinted economically using traditional technology. The Cambridge Library Collection extends this activity to a wider range of books which are still ol importance to researchers and professionals, either for the source material they contain, or as landmarks in the history of their academic discipline. Drawing from the world-renowned collections in the Cambridge University Library, and guided by the advice of experts in each subject area, Cambridge University Press is using state-of-the-art scanning machines in its own Printing House to capture the content ol each book selected for inclusion. The files are processed to give a consistently clear, crisp image, and the books finished to the high quality standard for which the Press is recognised around the world. The latest print-on-demand technology ensures that the books will remain available indefinitely, and that orders lor single or multiple copies can quickly be supplied. The Cambridge Library Collection will bring back to life books ol enduring scholarly value (including out-of-copyright works originally issued by other publishers) across a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences and in science and technology. Cambridge Library CoLLeCtion Books of enduring scholarly value History The books reissued in this series include accounts of historical events and movements by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, as well as landmark studies that assembled significant source materials or developed new historiographical methods. The series includes work in social, political and military history on a wide range of periods and regions, giving modern scholars ready access to influential publications of the past. The Amateur Poacher Richard Jefferies (1848–87) remains one of the most thoughtful and most lyrical writers on the English countryside. He had aspirations to make a living as a novelist, but it was his short factually based articles for The Live Stock Journal and other magazines, drawn from a wealth of knowledge of the rural community into which he had been born, which when brought together in book form brought him recognition (though not wealth) and which continued to be read and admired after his early death. The Gamekeeper at Home (also reissued in this series) and The Amateur Poacher were both collections of essays in the style of reminiscences of a rural way of life which, though never idyllic, was by the 1870s beginning to undergo a period of rapid change, through both the onset of mechanisation and agricultural depression. Cambridge University Press has long been a pioneer in the reissuing of out-of-print titles from its own backlist, producing digital reprints of books that are still sought after by scholars and students but could not be reprinted economically using traditional technology. The Cambridge Library Collection extends this activity to a wider range of books which are still of importance to researchers and professionals, either for the source material they contain, or as landmarks in the history of their academic discipline. Drawing from the world-renowned collections in the Cambridge University Library, and guided by the advice of experts in each subject area, Cambridge University Press is using state-of-the-art scanning machines in its own Printing House to capture the content of each book selected for inclusion. The files are processed to give a consistently clear, crisp image, and the books finished to the high quality standard for which the Press is recognised around the world. The latest print-on-demand technology ensures that the books will remain available indefinitely, and that orders for single or multiple copies can quickly be supplied. The Cambridge Library Collection will bring back to life books of enduring scholarly value (including out-of-copyright works originally issued by other publishers) across a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences and in science and technology. The Amateur Poacher Richard Jefferies CAmbRiDGE UnivERSity PRESS Cambridge new york melbourne madrid Cape town Singapore São Paolo Delhi Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, new york www.cambridge.org information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108004091 © in this compilation Cambridge University Press 2009 This edition first published 1879 This digitally printed version 2009 iSbn 978-1-108-00409-1 This book reproduces the text of the original edition. The content and language reflect the beliefs, practices and terminology of their time, and have not been updated. Cambridge University Press wishes to make clear that the reissue of out-of-copyright books not originally published by Cambridge does not imply any knowledge or advocacy of the reissue project on the part of the original publisher. The Amateur Poacher RICHARD JEFFERIES CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS THE AMATEUR POACHER