London Guides and Maps

Overview References

Ackroyd, Peter. London: The Biography. London: Anchor, 2003.

• Very well written, by a novelist and essayist who's very into the odder corners of London (see ModernFiction.

Hibbert, Christopher, and Ben Weinreb, eds. The London Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Book on London Ever Published. 2d ed. TransAtlantic, 1993.

• Even the first edition was spectacular, and I am reliably informed that the second is better.

Porter, Roy. London: A Social History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, (reprint) 1998.

• Much lauded. A broad overview, from Roman times to the present, divided chronologically.

Guidebooks and Atlases

Guidebooks and atlases of London in the late 19th century are exceedingly useful, and not at all hard to find. By far the best is Bacon's atlas, but it is quite expensive and has nothing but maps. Any of the hundreds of different guidebooks will give you lots of detail; Muirhead's is nice because it also gives you complete floor-plans of places like the British Museum.

Bacon, G. W. “Portable” Atlas of London (ca. 1910)

———. New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of London (original edition 1888)

———. The A to Z of Victorian London (Bacon’s atlas, with introductory notes by Ralph Hyde)

Baedeker’s Guides (to London or England) from this period, and there were many, are very useful.

Dickens, Charles Jr. Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888: An Unconventional Handbook and Dictionary of the Thames.

• Fantastically useful, especially the Dictionary of London, for all sorts of trivia and small bits of ordinary life. The reprint is a lovely facsimile in cheap hardcover -- get one now!

Muirhead, Findlay and L. Russell. Muirhead’s London, early editions preferable.

If you have a modern London A to Z, less has changed than you’d think, but the whole East End is very different, as are Leather Hill and the other major rookeries. That’s urban renewal, folks!

Other Suggestions

See also this list from City of Shadows:

Automobile Association. Ordnance Survey Illustrated Atlas of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Fanum House 1991. ISBN: (none given).

Baedeker, Karl. Baedeker’s Guide to Great Britain. Karl Baedeker, Publisher. [note from City of Shadows: "This is an original version, not the Prentice Hall reprints, which depict England as it is today. I have the 1907 version, which is still quite useful for the Victorian Age, but if you want to spend a bit of money (anywhere from 40.00 to 200.00), you can purchase versions dating from 1887 – 1899 that are even better. Baedeker guides are invaluable if your characters are traveling throughout the country)."] Rare.

Baedeker, Karl. Baedeker's Guide to London. Karl Baedeker, Publisher. 1894 edition. Invaluable guide to London during the Victorian Era. Details everything. 3 maps and 18 plans. Rare.

Black, Adam and Charles. Victorian Travellers Guide to 19th Century England and Wales. Bracken Books 1985 (reprint from 1864). ISBN: 0-946495-69-6

Collins, H.G. Collins' Illustrated Atlas of London. The Victorian Library, Leicester University Press, 1973 (reprint from original 1854 version). ISBN: 0-7185-5012-9

Cook, Thomas Cook and Son. Marsh's American Guide to London. Lockwood and Company, New York, 1875. Fourth Annual Edition. Detailed account of London. Invaluable. Rare.

Dickens, Charles. The Uncommercial Traveller. Colonial Press, Inc. 1868.

Hamilton, Ellis. Railway Carriages in the British Isles from 1830 to 1914. George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1965 ISBN: (none given).

Pepper, Choral. Walks in Oscar Wilde's London. Peregrine Smith Book, 1992. ISBN: 0-87905-445-X.

Simmons, Jack. The Victorian Railway. Thames and Hudson 1991 ISBN: 0-500-25110-X

Swinglehurst, Edward. The Romantic Journey: The Story of Thomas Cook and Victorian Travel. Harper and Row 1974. ISBN: 01-06-014191-3

Taine, H. Taine's Notes on England. Holt & Williams, New York. 1872. Rare.

Thackeray, William Makepeace. Sketches and Travels in London. Jefferson Press, New York.

-- ChrisLehrich^? - 22 Dec 2004