Originally published in 1905, this work contains a wealth of information
on various aspects of the history of London and its buildings.
Beautifully illustrated, the author takes the reader on a tour of the
buildings that began to vanish from the city at the turn of the 19th
century. The following passage is taken from the preface: 'The writer,
for many years, has employed his spare time in examining those older
portions of London which have now been to a great extent ""improved""
away; he has visited them again and again, making notes on the spot,
with brush and pencil, of picturesque buildings, threatened with
destruction. He has also hunted up old documents relating to them, and
has carefully checked any statements on the subject by previous writers.
The result of what has been to him a labour of love may perhaps have
interest, even value, for the public. This must be his excuse for adding
to the already long list of publications on old London. The buildings
alluded to in this work are widely scattered: they must be looked upon
as a selection only of what we are losing, for in no single volume is
there space, and no man alone can have had time and energy, to deal with
a tithe of the interesting structures, from Mile End to Hammersmith,
which either still drag on a precarious existence or have not long
passed away. The letterpress is divided into chapters, beginning with
the east and south east, progress being made by easy stages to the west,
so that what has been written takes more or less the form of an
itinerary, but the requirements of the subject make it impossible to
follow absolutely any fixed plan.'
