Descriptive map of London Social Conditions Western Survey Area Sheet 12. Outer South-West, comprising Wandsworth, and the southern parts of Battersea, Lambeth and Camberwell

Smith, Hubert Llewellyn

Publication Date: 1930

About this Item

BOOTH /LSE POVERTY MAP Wandsworth Battersea Lambeth Clapham Dulwich Norwood 1930. Large vintage coloured folding poverty map; Surveyed by London School of Economics, continuing and extending the earlier survey by Charles Booth. The Consultative committee included Sir William Beveridge, George M. Booth, A.L.Bowley, Sir George Duckworth, G.H.Gater, John Hilton, C.M.Lloyd, Lord Passfield, L.C.Robbins, and Allyn Young. Charles Booth (1840 1916) was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is best known for his innovative survey documenting London working class life at the end of the 19th century (most famously through his colour-coded poverty maps of the city of which this is one suh map). This work influenced government intervention against poverty in the early 20th century and led to the founding of Old Age pensions. He popularised the concept of the "Poverty Line". (1930). 52.5 x 99.5cm, 20.5 x 39 inches; this is a folding map. Condition: Good. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this map. There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain. These maps were surveyed and produced by a team at the London School of Economics, continuing, updating and extending the earlier poverty maps by Charles Booth; the Charles Booth archive is held at the LSE library to this day. Booth was a philanthropist and social reformer. He was critical of the existing statistical data on poverty in late-Victorian London. His research showed that 35% of the population were living in abject poverty - far higher than widely believed. He popularised the idea of the 'poverty line', and used his work to argue for the introduction of Old Age Pensions which he described as "limited socialism". He was not a socialist, but had sympathy with the working classes and argued that such reforms would help prevent socialist revolution from occurring in Britain. Map colour key: BLACK: "Lowest class of degraded or semi criminal population"; BLUE: "Those who are living below Charles Booth's poverty line"; PURPLE: "The mass of unskilled labourers (and others of similar incomes) who are above the poverty line"; PINK: "skilled workers and others of similar grades of income"; RED: "the 'Middle Class' and the wealthy. Seller Inventory # P-6-016515

Bibliographic Details

Title: Descriptive map of London Social Conditions ...

Publication Date: 1930

Condition: Good