London

A fascinating illustrated six-volume account, published 1841–4, of what was then the greatest city in the world.

Charles Knight (Author)

9781108073950, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 May 2014

442 pages, 99 b/w illus.
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.76 kg

The publisher and writer Charles Knight (1791–1873) was apprenticed to his printer father, but later became a journalist and then proprietor of various periodicals and magazines, many of which were driven by his concern for the education of the poor. As an author, he published a variety of works, including The Old Printer and the Modern Press (also reissued in this series). He claimed that this six-volume work on the architecture and history of London, published between 1841 and 1844, was neither a history nor a survey of London, but looked 'at the Present through the Past, and at the Past through the Present'. It relies on the skills of eminent artists to bring both the present and the past of London to life, and is arranged thematically rather than chronologically or geographically. This is a fascinating account of what was then the greatest city in the world.

Analytical table of contents
26. The buildings of St Paul's
27. The College of Physicians
28. The priory and church of St Bartholomew
29. The priory and church of St Bartholomew
30. The House of Commons
31. The House of Commons (cont.)
32. Milton's London
33. The Charter House
34. St John's Gate
35. The Strand
36. The Strand (cont.)
37. London antiquaries
38.-42. The Tower
43. Old Royal Exchange and its founder
44. The Royal Exchange and the South Sea House
45. Smithfield
46. Christ's Hospital
47. Some features of London life in the last century
48. St James's Palace
49. Spitalfields
50. The Custom House.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]