Poole, John: Little Pedlington and the Pedlingtonians. 2018-05-24
 

Published originally in 2 volumes (1835 and 1839), written by John Poole (1786-1872), a successful 19th century playwright of comic melodrama, a category he more or less owned in his heyday. His most famous play is "Paul Pry".

It tells of a Londoner, a world traveller who has been everywhere, seen everything, and is enchanted by a small "Guide to Little Pedlington", which enthusiastically sets out the town's wonders, and its notable inhabitants.

He sets of to Little Pedlington, and his encounters with the wonders, and the notables, makes the first volume. In the second volume, he returns a few years later to join in the opening of Little Pedlington's new Theatre Royal, enjoys "The Hatchet of Horror, or the Massacred Milkmaid", and read a new Annual by the town's publishing and lending library enterpreneur, and the scandalous biography of a late town notable, Pomponius Nix, which has "all Little Pedlington in a pucker."

Although dating from the 1830s, it is still funny, as you met so many easily recognisable small-town types, and compare the wonders and notables of Little Pedlington with the reality.

I couldn't find a usable original cover, so made a generic text cover. The OCR is ex-Google Books, and was atrocious; there exists a couple of good scans from which to make corrections and proof against.

Not my kind of book, but I wanted to say you wrote an excellent summary (from which I could tell it's not my kind of book :)).