London: Volume 1

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

Charles Knight (Author)

9781108073943, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 May 2014

474 pages, 157 b/w illus.
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.82 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
Introduction
1. The silent highway
2. Clean your honour's shoes
3. Paul's Cross
4. The Tabard
5. London Bridge
6. Midsummer-eve
7. St Mary Overies
8. Street noises
9. Roman London
10. The old spring-time in London
11. The parks
12. The parks (cont.)
13. Underground
14. Suburban milestones
15. Lambeth Palace
16. The Roman remains
17. Piccadilly
18. Crosby Place
19. Old Whitehall
20. New Whitehall
21. Ben Jonson's London
22. Ben Jonson's London (cont.)
23. Ranelagh and Vauxhall
24. Street sights
25. The Monument.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]