''Our Village'' is a collection of about 100 literary sketches of rural life written by

Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English author and dramatist. She was born at New Alresford, Alresford in Hampshire. She is best known for ''Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes and vividly dr ...

(1787–1855), and originally published during the 1820s and 1830s. The series first appeared in ''

The Lady's Magazine London fashionable spencer ">Spencer_(clothing).html" ;"title="walking dresses, July 1812, including a Spencer (clothing)">spencer ''The Lady's Magazine; or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, Appropriated Solely to Their Use and Amuseme ...

''. The full title is: ''Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery''. The vivid series was based upon life in

Three Mile Cross Three Mile Cross is a village in the civil parish of Shinfield, to the south of Reading, and immediately north of the adjoining village of Spencers Wood, in the English county of Berkshire. In the 1960s, the M4 Motorway was built and became a n ...

, a hamlet in the parish of

Shinfield Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming p ...

(south-east of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

), where she lived. Miss Mitford's own short preface states:

'The following pages contain an attempt to delineate country scenery and country manners, as they exist in a small village in the south of England. The writer may at least claim the merit of a hearty love of her subject, and of that local and personal familiarity, which only a long residence in one neighbourhood could have enabled her to attain. Her descriptions have always been written on the spot, and at the moment, and, in nearly every instance, with the closest and most resolute fidelity to the place and the people. If she be accused of having given a brighter aspect to her villagers than is usually met with in books, she cannot help it, and would not if she could. She has painted, as they appeared to her, their little frailties and their many virtues, under an intense and thankful conviction that, in every condition of life, goodness and happiness may be found by those who seek them, and never more surely than in the fresh air, the shade, and the sunshine of nature.' (1835 Edition, I, pp.v-vi)

Editions

* Original edition: (Whittaker & Co., London), Volume 1 1824; Volume 2 1826; Volume 3 1828; Volume 4 1830; Volume 5 1832. * New edition in three volumes: 1835 (Whittaker & Co., London), with vignettes engraved by Baxter. * New edition: (Macmillan & Co, London, 1893), with introduction by

Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie ( Thackeray; 9 June 1837 – 26 February 1919), eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, was an English writer, whose several novels were appreciated in their time and made her a central figure on the late Vic ...

, illustrated by

Hugh Thomson Hugh Thomson (1 June 18607 May 1920) was an Irish people, Irish Illustration, Illustrator born at Coleraine near Derry. He is best known for his pen-and-ink illustrations of works by authors such as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and J. M. Bar ...

(1860-1920).
''Our Village''
is fully and openly accessible in th
Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature Digital Collection
*For a 1909 publish date,

Stanhope Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.T. N. Foulis T. N. Foulis was a British publisher founded in Edinburgh in 1903. During its first ten years, the firm became well known for producing "highly original, beautifully illustrated books",

, 1909. **
Sketches of English Life and Character
'. A. C. McClurg & Co.; 1910. (U.S. edition) *''Sketches of English Life and Character;'' Stanhope A. Forbes (illus.) Henley-on-Thames: Foulis, 1924 {{story-collection-stub 1824 short story collections 1826 short story collections 1828 short story collections 1830 short story collections 1832 short story collections Works originally published in The Lady's Magazine Berkshire in fiction