In a message dated 02/12/2009 18:48:12 GMT Standard Time, ronica32@usamedia.tv writes: Would these publications still be under the domain of the Northumberland Local History Society and, if so, are they still available? Veronica Thornton Hagin northern California Veronica: As you state, they were all published by Frank Graham who also published many more local history books. Some of his books were modern ones, newly-written, sometimes by himself but including ones by other local authors. Others were reprints of books published some time ago and now rare in their original form. Frank Graham died around then and although there was an attempt to continue his business very little that was new was ever published under his imprint again. Frank Graham was publishing, very roughly 1965-1990. His own major interest was apparently in engravings of the north-east, of which many were produced in the 19th century and before, often to illustrate other local history books, and Graham built up a large collection of originals of those engravings (I wonder what happened to it?) The opriginal query on this thread was on books about village life and farming life, which is hardly answered by engravings of stately homes and mediaeval castles, but nevertheless I must mention a pair of books which deserve to be better-known. They are "Nostalgioc Views of the North" by John Moreels. Mr Moreels (a recent speaker at several branches of the NDFHS!) took over the old Ward Philipson stationery business and discovered masses of very fragile old photographic plates in their attics. He is slowly working through them, taking prints and cataloguing them, and his two volumes published so far (1998 and 1999, may yet be just the start of a lengthy series. The ISBNs are 0 9534224 0 2 and 0 9534224 1 0. They contain a mixture of engravings and of old photos and although there are some rural scenes, the majority are of life in the town (specifically THE Toon, ie Newcastle!) Geoff Nicholson