'London Labour and the London Poor' originated in a series of newspaper
articles written by the great journalist Henry Mayhew between 1849 and 1850. A
dozen years later, it had grown into the fullest picture we have of labourers in
the greatest city of the nineteenth century.
It is an account of the hopes, customs, grievances and habits of the
working-classes that allows them to tell their own stories.
Combining practicality with compassion, Mayhew worked unencumbered by
political theory, focusing on the lives of the London poor, their occupations
and trades. This selection shows how well he succeeded. From costermongers to
ex-convicts, from chimney-sweeps to vagrants, the underprivileged of London are
uniquely brought to life - their plight expressed through through a startling
blend of first-person accounts, Mayhew's perceptions and sharp statistics.
Victor Neuburg's selection reveals the wide range of the original work. In
his Introduction, he considers Mayhew's own life, and the development of this,
his greatest work. This volume also includes a chronology, a bibliography and
illustrations from the 1865 edition.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Henry Mayhew: A Chronology
Introduction
Bibliography
Mayhew Collaborators
Note of the Text
London Labour and the London Poor
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Volume 4: Those That Will Not Work
