The Unknown Mayhew
Selections from the "Morning Chronicle" 1849-50
Published on 2. February 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
489 pages
978-0-85036-698-3 (ISBN)
Description
Henry Mayhew (1812-1887) was a notable Victorian journalist. He left for posterity a highly readable and memorable three-volume book, London Labour and the London Poor (1851): three volumes based on 82 letters written for the Morning Chronicle in 1849 and 1850. Packed with anecdote, it is unusual in the rich literature of poverty in London. This volume offers a selection from these letters, each of which averaged 10,500 words - a total of nearly one million words. "Do you read the Morning Chronicle?" Douglas Jerrold asked Mrs Cowden Clarke in February 1850. "Do you devour those marvellous revelations of the inferno of misery, of wretchedness, that is smouldering under our feet? ...To read of the suffering of one class, and the avarice, the tyranny, the pocket cannibalism of the other, makes one almost wonder that the world should go on..."
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-85036-698-3 (9780850366983)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Contents: Preface; Mayhew and the Morning Chronicle: E.P. Thompson; Mayhew as a Social Investigator: Eileen Yeo. Selections from the Morning Chronicle: Introduction; The Spitalfields Silk-Weavers; The Slopworkers and Needlewomen; The Tailors; The Boot and Shoe Makers; The Toy-makers; The Merchant Seamen; The Woodworkers (Sawyers, Carpenters and Joiners, Cabinet-Makers, Ship and Boat-Builders, Coopers); The Dressmakers and Milliners; The Hatters; The Tanners and Curriers; Conclusion. Appendix 1: The Morning Chronicle Letters and London Labour and the London Poor; Appendix 2: Cost of Living.