Description

The energetic and eccentric William Hutton (1723-1815) was apprenticed in a Derby silk-mill, but taught himself book-binding, determined to set up in the young and thriving city of Birmingham, to which he moved in 1750. From selling second-hand books, he moved on to new books and then acquired a paper warehouse. Investment in land as well as the book trade brought in a comfortable living, and in 1782 he published his History of Birmingham, of which the second edition of 1783 is also reissued in this series. Hutton was also famous for his walking exploits, which led to his 1801 expedition to Hadrian's Wall. His account of his walk northward from Birmingham to Carlisle and then along the wall and back again, and home, includes a history of the wall and a description of the surviving ruins along its length. The corrected second edition of 1813 is reissued here.