The Night Side of London
London: William Tweedie, 1857. First edition. An expose on the underworld of Victorian London. “It will certainly astonish the reader to find what innumerable sins are committed daily and nightly [in London].” The Observer, Sunday, May 30, 1869.
However, as later scholarship notes, “annals of the slums . . . were social reportage that was meant to supply unpleasant facts to those unlikely to obtain them for themselves. . . [and were] often a thin camouflage for other things, like the accelerating alarm felt at the approach of dangers such as spiritual and moral destitution.” Dyos, The Slums of Victorian London, Victorian Studies Vol. 11, No. 1 (Sep. 1967), pgs. 13-14.
8vo. [4], 236pp., iv. Very good in publisher’s blind stamped, gilt title at spine, clean and unmarked text, with minor rubbing to the boards, a bit of wear at the spine-bottom, and a bit of soiling to the endpapers. Item #238
Price: $225.00