Wiltshire authors Diane Mason and Andrew Selwood, take a hilarious peek at what the butler saw but didn’t dare talk about in their new book, Right Up The Empire.

The book, which is published next week, pairs chaste illustrations from nineteenth-century periodicals with apt and, often, racy, captions that, the author’s hope, will keep the country chuckling through Christmas.

Mrs Mason, who used to live in Trowbridge until last year and worked in Waterstones in The Shires, said: “Looking through my collection of Victorian magazines, Andrew pointed out one of the typically over-posed and melodramatic illustrations and suggested a possible caption,” Diane explains, “it was very funny and it seemed like a great idea for a book.”

The pair worked on the book every weekend for around four months before submitting a sample of their material, with a working title of Right Up The Empire, to Chichester-based independent publishers, Summersdale, in October 2008. The book was commissioned in March 2009.

The title, Right Up The Empire, very much reflects the style of humour.

“It is a book for anyone who enjoys a good laugh in the Great British Carry On tradition of seaside postcard innuendo with a contemporary twist,” said Mr Selwood.

“We think there is something in it to appeal to everyone.”

Although this is their first foray into popular humour writing both Diane and Andrew are regular contributors to the west’s arts and cultural scene.

They gained first-class BA degrees as mature students at Bath Spa University, Diane in Modern English Studies in 1995, and Andrew in Fine Art: Sculpture in 2006.

Mrs Mason went on to obtain a doctorate from Bath Spa in 2003 and she is a bona fide Victorian literature and medical history specialist.

She is a writer and academic with many scholarly publications to her name.

Mr Selwood, is an artist, sculptor and illustrator who has not only exhibited work in Bath, Bristol and London, where his pieces have been shown alongside those of Banksy and Damien Hirst, but he has also completed a public artwork in his home town of Swindon.

Waiting, a life-sized figure of a home guardsman, was commissioned to commemorate the contribution of the Local Defence Volunteers during WWII.

It stands beside the anti-tank defences of the Stop Line Red on the River Ray near Blunsdon Station.

The pair are also direct descendants of the celebrated nineteenth-century author, Richard Jefferies, who lived at Coate, near Swindon, though they are not sure what their illustrious ancestor would make of Right Up The Empire.

“Seeing the lighter side of things seems to be something of a family trait so we assume he would have had the same sense of fun,” said Mr Selwood, “and just as Jefferies was inspired by the natural beauty of the local area, so we have drawn on Wiltshire for at least one of the gags.”