Daily Life in Johnson's London

by Richard B. Schwartz

Book Overview

"Rich in facts and anecdotes, this is the perfect introduction to 18th-century London and a wonderful companion for readers of Johnson and Boswell. . . . Schwartz starts with the sights, sound, and smells of the metropolis--a city of steeples, chimneys, coal smoke, and intolerable street noise--and surveys in succession Work and Money, Pastimes and Pleasures, Daily Routines and Domestic Life, Travel and Transportation, and Health and Hygiene and concludes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0299094944
• ISBN13: 9780299094942
• Release Date: November 1983
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Lucid window into 18th Century London/England

Before starting this book, I had begun reading the better known "Dr. Johnson's London" by Liza Picard. But as an American reader, I became frustrated. For example, Ms. Picard refers to prices in terms of "d." [6 d. etc.] I suppose that any British reader knows that the "d." stand for, but I was wondering, "Pound? Quid? Shilling?" Schwartz specifically explains that 4 farthings = 1 penny, which is abbreviated as "d." Ms Picard is British, and assumes that the reader knows many other incidentals that American readers may not know. Half way through that book, I turned to this one instead. Perhaps because Richard Schwartz is American, his book is more accessible for "Yanks." His writing is lucid, yet this short book is crammed with fascinating details about 19th century English life. It includes such specifics as the fact that wigs were greased before being powdered, and that insects infested the wigs! There are countless other similarly specific details. For example, Schwartz is specific about what 19th century folk spent on various items, even comparing the prices of traveling by coach vs. wagon etc. Now that I have finished reading this marvellous introduction to the era, I will go back and finish reading Picard's "Dr. Johnson's London" and will hopefully get more out of it.