imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Series of books to :Category:Book series per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 12#Category:Series of books

2025-01-22T03:55:31Z

Moving Category:Series of books to Category:Book series per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 12#Category:Series of books

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{{Short description|20th-century series of guidebooks to Britain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
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| name = Shell Guide
| image = Shell guide dorset.jpg
| image_size = 200
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| caption = ''Shell Guide'' by [[Michael Pitt-Rivers]] <br />about [[Dorset]] (1968)
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| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = English
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| genre = [[Guidebook]]
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| publisher = {{plainlist|
* The Architectural Press
* [[Pavilion Books]]
* [[Faber and Faber]]
}}
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 1934–1984
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| notes = Sponsored by [[Royal Dutch Shell]]
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The '''Shell Guides''' were originally a 20th-century series of [[guidebook]]s on the counties of [[United Kingdom|Britain]]. They were aimed at a new breed of car-driving metropolitan tourist, and for those who sought guides that were neither too serious nor too shallow and who took pleasure in the ordinary and peculiar culture of small town Britain. In the three decades after the [[World War II|Second World War]] the Shell Guides provided a surreptitiously subversive synthesis of the British countryside.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shell Guides to Britain |date=2008-05-15 |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926131839/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/may/15/uk.roadtrips.shellguide |archive-date=2018-09-26 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/may/15/uk.roadtrips.shellguide}}</ref>

== History ==
The series started in June 1934, with [[John Betjeman]]'s ''Cornwall'',<ref>{{cite web|first=Chris|last=Mawson|title=A History of the Shell County Guides|url=http://www.shellcountyguides.co.uk/|access-date=24 January 2011|year=2010}}</ref> and continued until 1984, by which time about half the country had been covered. The series was sponsored by the oil company [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell]]. The original guides were published on a county-by-county basis, under the editorial control of the poet [[John Betjeman]] and (later) the artist [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]]. There were three publishers involved in the publication of the thirteen pre-war titles: The Architectural Press, [[Pavilion Books|Batsford]] and finally, in 1939, [[Faber and Faber]]. In 1939 all the previous twelve titles were re-issued and one new one in the same format: [[David Verey]]'s ''Gloucestershire''. The next one planned was ''Shropshire'', to be co-written by Betjeman and Piper. However, the Second World War intervened. Only one non-English area was covered: ''The West Coast of Scotland'' by [[Stephen Bone]], arguably the most political of all the Shell Guides. After the war, however, every bit of Wales was covered in five different titles. It was not until 1951 that the next Shell Guide was produced. Jack Beddington's involvement in the Shell Guides and Shell advertising in general cannot be overestimated and it is because of him, that from the outset, artists were invited to produce Shell Guides; [[John Nash (artist)|John]] and [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]] for instance and of course John Piper.

[[File:Shilling Guide Derbyshire.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Wrap cover of the 1964 ''Shilling Guide'' to Derbyshire and Staffordshire, published by [[Shell-Mex and BP]]; art by [[Julian Trevelyan]]]]
During the early 1960s a series of 48 cheaper ''Shilling Guides''<ref>{{cite web|first=Ian|last=Byrne|title=Shell and BP Shilling Guides to the counties of Britain|url=http://www.petrolmaps.co.uk/shilling.htm|access-date=3 April 2020|year=2002}}</ref> appeared, much to Betjeman's annoyance, especially as they sold in greater numbers. Published by the [[Shell-Mex and BP]] [[joint venture]], each had just 20 pages with a full colour card cover, representing highlights of the county covered, and included a two-colour map of the area, preceded by an essay on the history and landscape, and followed by a short gazetteer of main towns and tourist attractions. The original artwork for this series was sold by Shell in 2002 at an auction held by Sotheby's. These images by such artists as [[Keith Shackleton]] and [[David Gentleman]] also featured in the (now collectable) Shell posters that were published for use in schools. These appeared between 1959 and 1965.

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, a series of general titles under the ''Shell Guide'' banner were produced, covering most of the countries in northwest Europe. Guides to subjects such as rivers, islands, viewpoints, archaeology, gardens, flowers, history, wildlife and museums were also published.

In 1987, Shell issued a final series of ''New Shell Guides'', published by Michael Joseph and generally covering rather larger areas (e.g. ''Northern Scotland and the Islands'') than in the earlier series. Whilst the original Shell County Guides are now highly collectable, the later titles (published by [[Faber and Faber]], [[Ebury Publishing|Ebury Press]] or Michael Joseph) tend to be shunned by collectors and book dealers alike, as supply exceeds demand.

== Selected books ==

* Of the original pre-war guides, Paul Nash's ''[[Dorset]]'' (1936) has been described as the most artistically experimental of the series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/?location_id=384&item_id1=1592 |title=Mixed Gallery of Shell Art Collection Images |publisher=nationalmotormuseum.org.uk |access-date=19 October 2013}}</ref>
* The more collectable post-war guides include Betjeman and Piper's ''[[Shropshire]]'' (1951), David Verey's ''[[Mid-Wales]]'' (1960), [[W. G. Hoskins]]' ''[[Rutland]]'' guide (1963) and [[James Lees-Milne]]'s ''[[Worcestershire]]'' (1964).{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} In her biography of John Piper (2009), [[Frances Spalding]] highlights Henry Thorold's ''[[Derbyshire]]'' (1972) as one of the best later titles. Thorold also wrote the last book in the series, ''[[Nottinghamshire]]'' in 1984, published the same year that Betjeman died.
*[[Wynford Vaughan-Thomas]]'s ''South-West and Mid-Wales'' is an example of the 1987 New Shell Guides series.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}
* The Shell Guide series featured many photographs. John Piper was an accomplished black and white photographer, as was his son Edward. Peter Burton took many of the photos for the last titles. Paul Nash took hundreds of photos for his pre-war guide and whittled them down to those that made it into the finished product.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160308061244/http://www.shellguides.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm The Shell County Guides] website by Chris Mawson (archived, 8 March 2016)
* [http://www.petrolmaps.co.uk/shilling.htm Shell and BP Shilling Guides to the counties of Britain] on Petrol Maps
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110120200122/http://www.libripublishing.co.uk/popular-culture/shell-eye-on-england David Heathcote's ''A Shell Eye on England 1934–1984''] (book summary)

{{Royal Dutch Shell}}

[[Category:Books about the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Books by John Betjeman]]
[[Category:British books]]
[[Category:British travel books]]
[[Category:Book series]]
[[Category:Travel guide books]]
[[Category:Shell plc]]

Shell Guides - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Series of books to :Category:Book series per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 January 12#Category:Series of books