First edition Lakes sheep identification picture book from 1817 sold for £1,820 at auction

A first edition Lakes flock identification picture book has sold at auction for £1,820.

The book from 1817 was sold at 1818 Auctioneers on Sunday 3 April.

Bill Nelson, from the auctioneers, explained there was high interest in the book which ended in intense bidding.

He said: "A sheep farmer in Martindale, Joseph Walker, had the idea of collecting and publishing drawings and descriptions of the flock identification marks used by shepherds in the Cumberland fells. It was to help them return sheep to their owner as well as being a record of the marks used by each farmer on their flock.

"Much of Cumbria is common land. Sheep that graze on common land, land with no fences, learn from their mother which area is theirs to graze on, known as the heft. But they can go astray.

"Lug marks (ear notches) and smit marks (coloured stripes and spots on the fleece) ensure sheep are easily identified and returned to their native heft.

"The Shepherd’s Guide has been updated many times since Walker’s first edition. It is still in use by farmers today, with 30 percent of England's common land in Cumbria."

The book was sold by an anonymous vendor from Carlisle to a private bidder in Cumbria.

In the same sale, a small selection of John Ruskin's work made £2,650 including signed handwritten notes and letters, two small portrait photographs and a small water-colour drawing or sketch endorsed by Ruskin – and titled "dead twig and lichens".