The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes
The first and possibly the greatest sociological study of poverty in 19th-century London, this survey by a journalist invented the genre of oral history a century before the term was coined. Henry Mayhew vowed "to publish the history of a people, from the lips of the people themselves — giving a literal description of their labour, their earnings, their trials and their sufferings, in their own 'unvarnished' language." With his collaborators, Mayhew explored hundreds of miles of London streets in the 1840s and 1850s, gathering thousands of pages of testimony from the city's humbler residents. Their stories revealed aspects of city life virtually unknown to literate society.
A sprawling, four-volume history resulted from Mayhew's investigations. This extract focuses on the criminal class--pickpockets, prostitutes, rag pickers, and vagrants, whose true stories of degradation, horror, and desperation rival Dickensian fiction. A classic reference source for sociologists, historians, and criminologists, Mayhew's work is immensely readable. As Thackeray wrote, these urban vignettes conjure up "a picture of human life so wonderful, so awful, so piteous and pathetic, so exciting and terrible, that readers of romances own they never read anything like to it."
1104617646
The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes
The first and possibly the greatest sociological study of poverty in 19th-century London, this survey by a journalist invented the genre of oral history a century before the term was coined. Henry Mayhew vowed "to publish the history of a people, from the lips of the people themselves — giving a literal description of their labour, their earnings, their trials and their sufferings, in their own 'unvarnished' language." With his collaborators, Mayhew explored hundreds of miles of London streets in the 1840s and 1850s, gathering thousands of pages of testimony from the city's humbler residents. Their stories revealed aspects of city life virtually unknown to literate society.
A sprawling, four-volume history resulted from Mayhew's investigations. This extract focuses on the criminal class--pickpockets, prostitutes, rag pickers, and vagrants, whose true stories of degradation, horror, and desperation rival Dickensian fiction. A classic reference source for sociologists, historians, and criminologists, Mayhew's work is immensely readable. As Thackeray wrote, these urban vignettes conjure up "a picture of human life so wonderful, so awful, so piteous and pathetic, so exciting and terrible, that readers of romances own they never read anything like to it."
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The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes

The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes

by Henry Mayhew
The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes

The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First-Person Accounts by Beggars, Thieves and Prostitutes

by Henry Mayhew

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Overview

The first and possibly the greatest sociological study of poverty in 19th-century London, this survey by a journalist invented the genre of oral history a century before the term was coined. Henry Mayhew vowed "to publish the history of a people, from the lips of the people themselves — giving a literal description of their labour, their earnings, their trials and their sufferings, in their own 'unvarnished' language." With his collaborators, Mayhew explored hundreds of miles of London streets in the 1840s and 1850s, gathering thousands of pages of testimony from the city's humbler residents. Their stories revealed aspects of city life virtually unknown to literate society.
A sprawling, four-volume history resulted from Mayhew's investigations. This extract focuses on the criminal class--pickpockets, prostitutes, rag pickers, and vagrants, whose true stories of degradation, horror, and desperation rival Dickensian fiction. A classic reference source for sociologists, historians, and criminologists, Mayhew's work is immensely readable. As Thackeray wrote, these urban vignettes conjure up "a picture of human life so wonderful, so awful, so piteous and pathetic, so exciting and terrible, that readers of romances own they never read anything like to it."

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780486130842
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication date: 07/31/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 416
File size: 6 MB

Table of Contents

Prostitutes
Prostitution in London.--By Bracebridge Hemyng
Seclusives, or those that Live in Private Houses and Apartments
Board Lodgers
Those who live in Low Lodging Houses
Sailors' Women
Soldiers' Women
Thieves' Women
Park Women
The Dependants of Prostitutes
Bawds
Followers of Dress Lodgers
Keepers of Accommodation Houses
Procuresses, Pimps, and Panders
Fancy-men
Bullies
Clandestine Prostitutes
Female Operatives
Maid-Servants
Ladies of Intrigue and Houses of Assignation
Cohabitant Prostitutes
Narrative of a Gay Woman
Criminal Returns
Traffic in Foreign Women
Thieves and Swindlers.--By John Binny
Introduction
Sneaks, or Common Thieves
Stealing from Street-Stalls
Stealing from the Tills
Stealing from the Doors and Windows of Shops
Stealing from Children
Child Stripping
Stealing from Drunken Persons
Stealing Linen, &c.
Robberies from Carts
Stealing Lead from House-tops, Copper from Kitchens, &c.
Robberies by False Keys
Robberies by Lodgers
Robberies by Servants
Area and Lobby Sneaks
Stealing by Lifting Windows, &c.
Attic or Garret Thieves
A Visit to the Rookery of St. Giles
Narrative of a London Sneak
Pickpockets and Shoplifters
Omnibus Pickpockets
Railway Pickpockets
Shoplifters
A Visit to the Thieves' Dens in Spitalfields
Narrative of a Pickpocket
Horse and Dog Stealers
Horse Stealing
Dog Stealing
Highway Robbers
A Ramble among the Thieves' Dens in the Borough
Housebreakers and Burglars
Narrative of a Burglar
Narrative of another Burglar
Prostitute Thieves
The Prostitutes of the Haymarket
Hired Prostitutes
Park Women
Soldiers' Women
Sailors' Women
Felonies on the River Thames
The Mudlarks
Sweeping Boys
Sellers of Small Wares
Labourers on Board Ship, &c.
Dredgemen or Fishermen
Smuggling
Felonies by Lightermen
The River Pirates
Narrative of a Mudlark
Receivers of Stolen Property
Dolly Shops
Pawnbrokers, &c.
Narrative of a Returned Convict
Coining
Forgers
Bank Notes
Cheques
Forged Acceptance
Forged Wills
Cheats
Embezzlers
Magsmen, or Sharpers
The Card Tricks
Skittles
Thimble and Pea
The Lock
Swindlers
Beggars and Cheats.--By Andrew Halliday
Introduction
Origin and History of the Poor Laws
Statistics of the Poor Laws
Report of the Poor Law Board (1860)
Street Beggars in 1816
Mendicant Pensioners
Begging-Letter Writers in 1816
Mendicity Society
A Deserving Case
Another
An Imposter
Another Imposter
A Well-Educated Beggar
Begging-Letter Writers
Decayed Gentlemen
Broken-down Trademen
Distressed Scholar
The Kaggs Family
Advertising Begging-Letter Writers
Ashamed Beggars
The Swell Beggar
Clean Family Beggars
Naval and Military Beggars
Turnpike Sailor
Street Campaigners
Foreign Beggars
The French Beggar
Destitute Poles
Hindoo Beggars
Negro Beggars
Disaster Beggars
A Shipwrecked Mariner
Blown-up Miners
Burnt-out Tradesmen
Lucifer Droppers
Bodily Afflicted Beggars
Seventy years a Beggar
Having swollen Legs
Cripples
A Blind Beggar
Beggars subject to Fits
Being in a Decline
"Shallow Coves"
Famished Beggars
The Choking Dodge
The Offal-Eater
Petty Trading Beggars
An Author's Wife
Dependants of Beggars
Referees
Distressed Operative Beggars
Starved-out Manufacturers
Unemployed Agriculturists and Frozen-out Gardeners
Hand-loom Weavers, &c.
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