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Henry Besley was one of the most innovative printers in Exeter during the 1840s. He became the only significant Devon publisher of small steel-engraved vignette views. His father Thomas had established his printing office in South Street in the late 1790s. Henry became a partner, and by 1828 had begun the series of trade directories of Exeter which continued until 1955, after which publication was continued by Kelly until 1973.He began to exploit the growing tourist market that resulted from the arrival of the railway in Exeter in 1844 and its extension to Newton Abbot in 1846 and Plymouth in 1849. He began the publication of a series of guide books to the western counties entitled "Route books" in 1844 and a similar series of "Handbooks" in 1846. Each guidebook included an account of the sights to be seen from the recently constructed railway lines, showing initiative in promptly meeting a new local demand, This rare book was produced from a digital copy held in the Bodleian Library collection that can be downloaded from http://books.google.co.uk/books, with a search by either author or title. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Last updated: 7 Jul 2011 - Brian Randell

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