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Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, Keswick, Cumberland, 1823, published by the author, by Simpkin and Marshall, Stationer's Court, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, 5th edn 1834.
The guide book has been owned by Isaac Burns; and by J Burns, 1838.
Maps and prints in the book are recorded separately.
book feature:- cloth bound (moire pattern cloth) & bookseller's label & frontispiece (map) & map & title page (p.i) & preface (PP.iii-iv) & contents (pp.v-vii) & descriptive text (pp.1-182) & illustrations & outline views & itineraries & addenda (botany, geology, meteorology in Derwent Water, black lead mine in Borrowdale) & index (pp.183-184)
inscription:- printed title page
A / CONCISE DESCRIPTION / OF THE / ENGLISH LAKES, / AND ADJACENT / MOUNTAINS : / WITH / GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO TOURISTS; / NOTICES OF THE / BOTANY, MINERALOGY, AND GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT; / OBSERVATIONS ON METEOROLOGY; / THE FLOATING ISLAND IN DERWENT LAKE; / AND / THE BLACK-LEAD MINE IN BORROWDALE. / BY / JONATHAN OTLEY. / FIFTH EDITION. / KESWICK : / PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR; / BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONER'S COURT, / LONDON; / AND ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. / 1834.
inscription:- printed paper label on spine
[OTLEY'S / GUIDE / TO THE / LAKES / Fifth Edition / 5s]
inscription:- printed foot of p.184
ARTHUR FOSTER, PRINTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE.
inscription:- printed bookseller's label inside front cover
SOLD BY / CROSTHWAITE & CO. / WHITEHAVEN.
black on yellow
inscription:- ms title page
J. Burns / 1838
inscription:- ms fly leaf
Isaac Burns
source type:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834)
wxh:- 12x19cm

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Transcription of Jonathan Otley's Concise Description of the English Lakes, 1823.
The transcription, and notes, are from the Concise Description of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 1823, published by the author, Simpkin and Marshall, London, and Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, 5th edition, 1834. The copy used is in a private collection.


Transcription
Deciding how to arrange a transcription in 'records' which are destined to become html pages is not always easy. Jonathan Otley's text is well structured in sections with regular use of headings; but to match previous efforts this transcript is made page by page, ignoring the problems that a section or sentence might be split across page breaks. The original markers for the few footnotes are a star (asterisk), which are replaced in the transcript by a serial number within each page.
Somewhen, the text, at present in MODES records, will migrate to xml. At this change the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) should be considered, though that methodology is biased towards academic study of 'Literature' rather than everyday text. TEI would mark up the whole of Otley's text as one document, the particular arrangement into pages for an edition treated as a subsidiary feature. I need to have smaller units as records, which will become html pages. The book here is being treated as an object in its own right, rather than a text which just happens to be in a book.
Some of the exact typesetting has been ignored, though italics and some characters are indicated using html markup. Hyphenation across lines has been removed, judging as well as I am able to retain the hyphen where it likely belongs, comparing with the same word elsewhere in the text if possible. A word split across pages is left that way, but the beginning part of the word is added as inferred data to its continuation on the following page.
Peculiarities of spelling and grammar are preserved; they might be confirmed by '(sic)', but not always: I have typed and have proof read as accurately as I can.
Also see OFR file:-

Text Indexing
Keywords for indexing the text have been recorded, as well as I am able: mostly using today's placenames rather than the text's version; recognising unnamed places if possible; using locality type terms if nothing else is possible, in particular trying to spot 'stations' ie special viewpoints; indexing objects and topics only if useful. Thus, I have tried to interpret and understand the text to make the indexing helpful and comprehensible in today's world; a basic rule is 'would you want this page if you were searching with this keyword?' The placename spellings of the text are put into the Old Cumbria Gazetteer, where all sorts of spellings are indexed. References to different rocks are mostly indexed by the keyword geology, as I am not always able to make a reliable interpretation of Otley's rock names. Botanical names are indexed with spellings standardised to today's pattern, but no attempt has been made to regularise the binomial to a modern term, and no attempt has been made to add common names except those given in the text.

placenames If Otley's placename is similar but not exactly the same, index under the regularised form, eg:-
Crummock Water
for Crummock Lake.
If there is probably confusion, then add a locality term to the placename, eg:-
Raven Crag, Longsleddale
using the place identifier in the standard gazetteer. For streams this might appear as:-
Sour Milk Gill (2)
If Otley's placename is really different then record two keywords, eg:-
Burtness Tarn (Bleaberry Tarn) & Bleaberry Tarn
The first quotes the source and gives the preferred term in explanation; the second indexes on the preferred term.
Uncertainty is marked by an added detail:-
Tarn How (?)
Gazetteer Extracts
Chunks of text relevant to each place are extracted and gathered together, and loaded into the record for the place in a gazetteer. This is much easier to use for a place than searching through pages in the guide book; you can go to the original text and read it all in context if you wish. The gazetteer is arranged using standard placename spellings, today's version of the placename, but will be indexable on all sorts of spellings, and by other place data. The gazetteer can also hold extracts from other sources, and map square images, including Jonathan Otley's map.
Not all keywords allocated to the text will prompt a gazetteer entry. Some places in the text will be unidentifiable some keywords are for other topics than places, char, botanical species, rocks, etc.

Stations
Jonathan Otley makes little formal use of 'stations' as were proposed by Thomas West in his Guide to the Lakes, 1778. Good viewpoints from which to appreciate a view are suggested, and might be considered as stations. The gazetteer entries, and indexing keywords, use the term 'station' followed with a pertinent placename when this seems a useful thing to do.

Binomial Names
In his botanical notices, Jonathan Otley makes does not follow the regular pattern of leading capitals that we recognise today. In many instances he has a leading capital for the Genus and not for the species, which is now normal practice; but in the same paragraph he will mix this with other styles. When a genus is repeated he might or might not indicate this with a capital letter abbreviation. I have followed his spelling accurately, I hope. None of the variations are marked by '(sic)'. The pattern of a leading capital for genus but not for species is a recent convention. The preface of Clapham, Tutin and Warburg, 1952, has:-
In the spelling of certain specific epithets it has been customary to use an initial capital letter when the epithet concerned is derived from a personal name or is a noun, e.g. the name of another genus, or the pre-Linnean name for the plant. This custom is not made obligatory by the International Rules of Nomenclature but is mentioned in a recommendation attached to these Rules. The use of the initial capital has certain advantages; for instance it conveys some information about the origin of the name and explains the apparent lack of grammatical agreement between a generic name and a specific epithet which appears when written with a small initial letter to be adjectival (e.g. Selinum Carvifolia). We found upon inquiry, however, that many botanists in this country prefer, as a matter of convenience, to drop the initial capital. We have therefore adopted small initial letters for all specific epithets in the body of the book, but have indicated those which are commonly spelled with capitals.
Jonathan Otley's botanical data is not ordered by any obvious plan; not listed by species or place.
Clapham, A R & Tutin, T G & Warburg, E F: 1952: Flora of the British Isles: Cambridge University Press
For indexing the modern style of spelling is used.
Gazetteer Extracts?
The botanical data is NOT used for gazetteer extracts. Instead an attempt has been made to tabulate the data by:-
binomial / common name / habitat / placename

binomial as given, no attempt to modernise.
The few missing binomials have been added, using modern terms, marked by being in [ ]s.

common name as given, except put into lowercase and unecessary hyphens removed to match other conventions in this project.

habitat a simple list of keywords, sometimes deduced rather uncertainly from Jonathan Otley's information, some detail kept in ( )s.

placename standardised terms, matching the gazetteer.
All this means that what you get is not what Jonathan Otley wrote: if you want his form of words you will have to look at the original text. If the data is not edited it remains a confusing muddle, edited it is no longer the original data.

Following Otley
Jonathan Otley's descriptions of his routes use no grid references of locations. He travelled on foot and horseback on roads and tracks that will have changed, perhaps improved perhaps faded away; though paths are remarkably longlived.
When travelling around, Jonathan Otley could presume on other gentlemen. He could ask to cross their private grounds, stand in their gardens for views, and so on. Today this is not possible. As an individual you may be well behaved, even gentlemanly, but the number of people wanting to see what there is to see, is too great for access to be granted so easily to private land.

Transcriptions of matter not found in the 5th edition have been made, and other appendices written:-


General notes
Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick, Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49, latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes.
Published as 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, THE Mountains in their Vicinity, AND THE ROADS BY WHICH THEY MAY BE VISITED: WITH REMARKS ON THE MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT. BY JONATHAN OTLEY. KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. BY J. RICHARDSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON; AND A. FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1823.'
This edition has Jonathan Otley's map '2d dit. 1823'.
Published - 2nd edn, 1825, 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, AND Adjacent Mountains, WITH GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO TOURISTS; AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT; ON METEOROLOGY; THE FLOATING ISLAND IN DERWENT LAKE; AND THE BLACK-LEAD MINE IN BORROWDALE. BY JONATHAN OTLEY. SECOND EDITION. KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. BY JOHN RICHARDSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON; AND ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1825.'
The 2nd edn has the map of The Lakes, '2d Edit. 1825.'
Also having observations on meteorology, the floating island in Derwent Lake, and the black lead mine in Borrowdale.
Published - 3rd edn, 1827, 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, ... AND AN ACCOUNT OF AN EXCURSION TO THE TOP OF SKIDDAW. BY JONATHAN OTLEY. THIRD EDITION. ... 1827.'
An account of an excursion to the top of Skiddaw is added. The map has been re-engraved on a larger scale '... 1827 ... re-engraved'.
Published - 4th edn, 1830, 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, AND ADJACENT MOUNTAINS: WITH GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO TOURISTS; NOTICES OF THE BOTANY, MINERALOGY, AND GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT; OBSERVATIONS ON METEOROLOGY; THE FLOATING ISLAND IN DERWENT LAKE; AND THE BLACK-LEAD MINE IN BORROWDALE. BY JONATHAN OTLEY. FOURTH EDITION. ... 1830.'
The text is revised; botanical observations are added; the excursion to Skiddaw is left out. There are also 9 outline sketches of the outlines of mountains, woodcuts.
Published - 5th edition, 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, ... FIFTH EDITION. KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR; BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONER'S COURT, LONDON; AND ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1834.'
The text is revised; more botanical notes, and an index. 2 more sketches are added, and all the mountian views are re-engraved. The map is now '21st. June 1827. And, with additions 20th. July 1833.'.
Published - 6th edn, 1837, 'A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LAKES, ... SIXTH EDITION. KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR; BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS' HALL COURT, LONDON; AND ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1837.'
The map is now '21st. June 1827. And, with additions 20th. July 1833. and 1837.'.
Published - 7th edn, 1843, 'A DESCRIPTIVE GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH LAKES, AND ADJACENT MOUNTAINS: WITH NOTICES OF THE Botany, Mineralogy, and Geology of the District. BY JONATHAN OTLEY. SEVENTH EDITION. TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN EXCURSION THROUGH LONSDALE TO THE CAVES. KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR; BY SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., STATIONERS' COURT, LONDON AND ARTHUR FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1842.'
The title is changed; the title page has a vignette of Scroggs, which was Jonathan Otley's birthplace. A description of an excursion to Lonsdale and the caves is added. There are 13 new outlines of mountains, mostly drawn by T Binns, Halifax, and engraved by O Jewitt, Headington, Oxfordshire. This edition also appears to have been issued dated 1842 and 1844. The map is dated '... Augt. 1841.'.
Published - 8th edn 1849 'A DESCRIPTIVE GUIDE TO THE ENGLISH LAKES, ... EIGHTH EDITION. ... KESWICK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR; BY SIMPKIN, MARHSALL & CO., STATIONERS' COURT, LONDON AND JOHN FOSTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE. 1849.'
Railways are added to the map, dated 'May 1849'.

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