A Victorian businessman with an interest in social policy set out to discover London's poor. Charles Booth's researchers walked every street in London in the company of the local constabulary, noting what they saw and categorising according the social class and character. From the 'Vicious and semi-criminal' to 'very wealthy', Booth's London is full of surprises, providing a snapshot of the capital at the end of the last century.
In this first volume of the series, the publisher presents the distinctive and diverse South East London of the 1890s from the previously unpublished notebooks in the Booth Collection. Together with the stunning full-colour hand-painted 'maps descriptive of London poverty' and a comprehensive street index these walks provide a guide of unsurpassed detail.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Editor's Preface
Introduction
Notes
Colour Maps
1. Southwark
- Walk 1
- Walk 2
- Walk 3
- Walk 4
- Walk 5
- Walk 6
- Walk 7
2. Lambeth
- Walk 8
- Walk 9
3. Kennington
- Walk 10
- Walk 11
- Walk 12
- Walk 13
- Walk 14
4. Walworth
- Walk 15
- Walk 16
- Walk 17
- Walk 18
5. Borough
- Walk 19
- Walk 20
- Walk 21
- Walk 22
- Walk 23
- Walk 24
- Notes of District 32
6. Bermondsey
- Walk 25
- Walk 26
- Walk 27
- Walk 28
7. Rotherhithe
- Walk 29
- Walk 30
- Walk 31
- Walk 32
8. Deptford and New Cross
- Walk 33
- Walk 34
- Walk 35
- Walk 36
- Walk 37
- Walk 38
- Walk 39
9. Peckham
- Walk 40
- Walk 41
- Walk 42
- Walk 43
- Walk 44
10. Camberwell
- Walk 45
- Walk 46
- Walk 47
11. Dulwich
- Walk 48
- Walk 49
- Walk 50
- Walk 51
- Walk 52
- Walk 53
- Walk 54
12. Nunhead
- Walk 55
- Walk 56
- Walk 57
13. Brockley
- Walk 58
14. Lewisham
- Walk 59
- Walk 60
- Walk 61
- Walk 62
15. Blackheath
- Walk 63
- Walk 64
- Walk 65
16. Greenwich
- Walk 66
- Walk 67
- Walk 68
- Walk 69
- Walk 70
- Walk 71
17. Charlton
- Walk 72
- Walk 73
- Walk 74
18. Woolwich
- Walk 75
- Walk 76
- Walk 77
- Walk 78
- Walk 79
- Walk 80
- Walk 81
- A Bicycle Ride at Night
Street Index
Review:
Engaging and alarming, inexhaustible and compulsive, these Booth Notebooks present a townscape of crowded streets and bustling thoroughfares, of claustrophobic courts and dark back alleys, a fluid, fast-changing environment in which commerce and people vie for space and amenity, industry and identity. They evoke the sights and sounds, indeed almost the smell, of a congested capital a century ago.'
