Cicerone Press

Cicerone Press is an English publisher, founded in 1969,^[1] specialising in guidebooks for walkers, climbers, trekkers and cyclists.

The company's first publication was a climbing guide to the English Lake District, and over the past 50 years they have published a range of guidebooks covering walking, trekking and cycling around the world.^[1]

History

The company was founded in 1969 when the late Walt Unsworth (1928-2017) and Brian Evans, in frustration at the lack of suitable climbing guides to areas of the English Lake District, came together to produce a climbing guide.^[1]

The very first guide, The Northern Lake District was published in March 1969. It consisted of just 40 pages and included hand-drawn illustrations by Evans who, two years later, wrote and illustrated a companion guide to climbs in The Southern Lake District, Cicerone's second title. Winter Climbs in Ben Nevis and Glencoe followed later the same year.^[2]

Since 1999, Cicerone has been developing under the ownership of Jonathan and Lesley Williams.^[3] The company is based in Kendal, Cumbria.^[4]

The Cicerone podcast 'Footnotes' was first released in 2020 and new episodes are available twice a month.^[5] The company also hosts a monthly Cicerone Live event with authors and guest speakers, events are streamed live on the Cicerone website, YouTube, and Facebook.^[6]

In 2008, readers of Walk Magazine, published by the Ramblers Association, voted Cicerone guides into first place in the "Best Walking Book" category of their annual "Top Gear Awards".^[7]

In 2019, the Cicerone Press celebrated its 50th anniversary with the publication of Cicerone: Celebrating Fifty Years of Adventure, edited by Kev Reynolds.^[8]