London labour and the London poor: a cyclopaedia of the conditions and earnings of those that will work, those that cannot work, and those that will not work. The London street-folk. Volume 2.

Vol. 2 of 4. Introductory chapter on the volume of street trade; chapters on various kinds of street sellers, street buyers, finders or collectors; chimney sweepers and crossing sweepers. Illustrated from sketches and daguerrotypes. Written in the1840s, Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor is a detailed and far reaching examination of life in Victorian London, and Victorian life in general. It is a social observation which makes use of interviews and anecdotes, particularly with the lower classes, and provides details about poverty, class, work, crime, public health, sexual immorality, racial / cultural difference, religion, diet, disability. There are also large amounts of statistical information about population, crime rates, and income, particularly in the appendix of Volume 4. It provides a clear overview of the diversity of Victorian society, and is very useful for those studying attitudes towards different races / cultures, or portrayals of disability.

Part of the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection