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"Picturesque Hampshire" was the first of a series of books published by the Northampton, Massachusetts, firm of Wade, Warner and Company; it was published in 1890. These books were the beginning of a number of other Massachusetts county guides ("Picturesque Hampden," 1892; "Picturesque Berkshire," 1893, for example). All of them featured photographs by Clifton Johnson (1865-1940), who went on to have a rich career as an illustrator, author, and photographer. His works include "The Highways and Byways of the South," "Along English Hedgerows" and children's books like "The Brave Tin Soldier." A number of his photographs have become classics, including some documenting African-American life in the South in the 1890s. The "Picturesque" part of the series' title was intended to invoke one of the most popular books published in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century: William Cullen Bryant's "Picturesque America" (1872, 1874 and later editions).

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