'A Baedeker of the past, absorbing and revealing in equal measure' Peter Ackroyd
'Brings the age's tortuous splendours and profound murkiness vividly to life' Observer
When Dr Johnson published his great Dictionary in 1755, London was the biggest city in Europe. The opulence of the rich and the comfort of the 'middling' sort contrasted sharply with the back-breaking labour and pitiful wages of the poor. Executions were rated one of the best amusements, but there was bullock-hunting and cock-fighting too. Crime, from pickpockets to highwaymen, was rife, prisons were poisonous and law-enforcement rudimentary.
Dr Johnson's London is the result of the author's passionate interest in the practical details of the everyday life of our ancestors: the streets, houses and gardens; cooking, housework, laundry and shopping; clothes and cosmetics; medicine, sex, hobbies, education and etiquette. The book spans the years 1740 to 1770, starting when the gin craze was gaining ground and ending when the east coast of America was still British. While brilliantly recording the strangeness and individuality of the past, Dr Johnson's London continually reminds us of parallels with the present day.
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Picard's conversational style, as bursting with rhetorical questions as a primary teacher, belies the breadth of her reading and research. Her informality breathes life into dry descriptions, and her sharp eye lends itself to shrewd selection from source passages. The familiarity of this Blackadder-esque London is borne out by its physical dimensions, with parks, hospitals and even bridges already starting to become recognisable to a contemporary eye, as well as its phenomena, such as lottery tickets and road rage. Although Picard sways between tenses with a giddy ease, adding a sprinkling of her own curious observations, her assimilation of information renders her prose sprightly, whether she be observing a meal in "real time", or delighting in the medical remedies, often involving quite the worst ingredients (though it's useful to know that powdered roast mouse is a reliable cure for incontinence). Saving the best to last, the concluding pages offer a cost of living index, which, as Picard admits, almost renders the book redundant. From a 1/2d half-loaf of bread to a £64,000 reward, it evocatively summarises the victuals and commodities of the time, and closes a bustling, collective portrait of the city not just of Johnson, but also of Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett and William Hogarth.--David Vincent
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Like its popular and acclaimed predecessor Restoration London, this book is the result of the author's passionate interest in the practical details of the everyday life of our ancestors, so often ignored in more conventional history books. Based on every possible contemporary source - diaries, almanacs, newspapers, advice books, memoirs, government papers and reports - Liza Picard examines every aspect of life in London: the streets, houses and gardens; cooking, housework, laundry and shopping; clothes and jewellery, cosmetics and hairdressing; medicine, sex, hobbies, education and etiquette; religion and popular beliefs; law and crime. This book spans the years 1740 to 1770, starting when the gin craze was gaining ground and ending when the east coast of America was still British. The everyday realities of life in the city of Hogarth, Fielding and Dr Johnson, based on contemporary evidence. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781842127292
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781842127292
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. The everyday realities of life in the city of Hogarth, Fielding and Dr Johnson, by the author of the bestselling Elizabeth's London. Seller Inventory # B9781842127292
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. new edition. 416 pages. 7.75x5.00x1.25 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __1842127292
Book Description Condition: New. 2003. Paperback. The everyday realities of life in the city of Hogarth, Fielding and Dr Johnson, based on contemporary evidence, by the author of the bestselling ELIZABETH'S LONDON. Num Pages: 384 pages, 32. BIC Classification: 1DBKESL; 3JF; HBJD1; HBLL; HBTB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 130 x 196 x 28. Weight in Grams: 300. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781842127292