Godwin, George
Town swamps and social bridges. The sequel of “A glance at the homes of the thousands”. With numerous engravings done from the life.
London, Routledge, Warnes, and Routledge 1859.
Full Description
8vo. viii + 102 + (2)pp, including woodcut frontispiece and (25) woodcut text ills. Recent cloth (a neatly executed binding). Ink presentation inscription from George Godwin.
First and only edition of this excellent account of housing conditions and of the social life of the working-class population in the slum districts of central London in the late 1850s. Its author, George Godwin (1813-1888), widely known and respected in his role as editor of the weekly periodical The Builder, was also an ardent advocate for slum clearance, better sanitation and other measures to improve the daily life of the poorest in society, and the present book, offering reliable factual information based on Godwin’s own knowledge of some of the most crowded and unhealthy communities in London and Tower Hamlets, was a powerful contribution to the campaign for improved London housing. It is also illustrated by evocative woodcut engravings, “done from the life”.