Some of Britain's most unusual and cherished books, Alfred Wainwright's illustrated guides to the Lake District, are to be saved and reprinted in his hometown, a month after being axed by publishers.
Fellwalker Wainwright's idiosyncratic, handcrafted guides are credited with introducing generations of ramblers to the Lake District. They went out of print for the first time in 50 years when Michael Joseph, part of Penguin, decided last month to discontinue them.
Wainwright, known as AW to his followers, published his first book, a "love letter" to the eastern fells, in 1955. Since then, his 49 books have sold more than 2m copies. Last October the Wainwright Society was launched in honour of the writer, who died in 1991.
Yesterday the publisher Frances Lincoln said it would now publish the guides and return the printing to Kendal, Cumbria, in accordance with the author's original wishes. Its managing director, John Nicoll, said: "As a boy who was brought up at the foot at Kentmere in the heart of the Lake District, I remember treasuring each new volume as it was published."
Hunter Davies, Wainwright's biographer, said of the books: "They are works of art. There's not an ounce of printers' typography in them - everything is done by hand. It's brilliant news that the books will be printed in Kendal again."
Wainwright took to rambling at the age of 23 after a holiday to the Lake District from his home in Blackburn, Lancashire. A qualified accountant, he moved to Kendal in 1941, spending all his spare time on the fells. He published his first book aged 48, and at 80 became a TV presenter when BBC2 gave him his own series.
In the introduction to his first guide, he wrote: "This book is one man's way of expressing his devotion to Lakeland's friendly hills. It was conceived, and is born, after many years of inarticulate worshipping at their shrines. It is, in very truth, a love letter."
Wainwright's widow, Betty, said: "I am delighted the new publisher has local connections and I am sure AW would have been very pleased."
