Imagining London, 1770–1900 Other works by this author: POETRY, PAINTING AND IDEAS, 1885–1914 SYMBOL TO VORTEX: Poetry, Painting and Ideas, 1885–1914 (US edition) INSTABILITIES IN CONTEMPORARY BRITISH POETRY Imagining London, 1770–1900 Alan Robinson © Alan David Robinson 2004 (cid:54)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:87)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:19)(cid:19)(cid:23)(cid:3)(cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:20)(cid:16)(cid:23)(cid:19)(cid:22)(cid:28)(cid:16)(cid:22)(cid:21)(cid:27)(cid:28)(cid:16)(cid:20) All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-51627-8 ISBN 978-0-230-59692-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230596924 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Robinson, Alan, 1957– Imagining London, 1770–1900/Alan Robinson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. 1. English literature—England—London—History and criticism. 2. English literature—19th century—History and criticism. 3. English literature—18th century—History and criticism. 4. Authors, English—Homes and haunts—England—London. 5. London (England)—Intellectual life. 6. London (England)—Historiography. 7. London (England)—In literature. 8. Art, English—England—London. 9. London (England)—In art. I. Title. PR8477R63 2004 820.9′3241—dc22 2004044360 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 For Perdita, for Chloe, for Käte, with love This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgements xii Preface xiv Abbreviations xviii 1 Unruliness and Improvement 1 2 Gendered London 20 3 Capital City 45 4 A Tale of Two Cities: Dickens’s ‘London’ 76 5 The Painting of Modern Life 124 6 Aesthetes and Impressionists 152 7 Property and Propriety 186 8 In the Cage 218 Notes 250 Index 281 vii This page intentionally left blank List of Illustrations 1 Thomas Rowlandson, Vauxhall Gardens (RA 1784). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 3 2 George Cruikshank, Grievances of London (1812). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 5 3 George Cruikshank, The Piccadilly Nuisance! Dedicated to the Worthy, Acting Magistrates of the District (1818). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 5 4 Joseph Mallord William Turner, London from Greenwich Park (Turner Gallery 1809). © Tate, London 2003 8 5 Robert Barker, London from the Roof of the Albion Mills (1792). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 11 6 Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, Ludgate Hill, from Fleet Street (1830). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 16 7 Anon., View (of) Carlton Terrace near the York Pillar, London. Winter Fashions for 1837 and 38 (1838). Published by B. Read and H. Bodman. © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 18 8 William Blake, London. Copy C, 1789, 1794. © Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 22 9 William Blake, Title page of Copy G of The Book of Urizen. © Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 24 10 William Blake, The House of Death (1795). © Tate, London 2003 25 11 James Gillray, A Corner, near the Bank; – or – An Example for Fathers (1797). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 32 12 James Gillray, Sandwich Carrots, dainty Sandwich Carrots (1796). © Guildhall Library, Corporation of London 34 13 John Orlando Parry, A London Street Scene (1835). © Dunhill Museum & Archive, 48, Jermyn Street St James’s, London SW1 50 14 ‘The Haunted Lady, or “The Ghost” in the Looking-Glass’, Punch, 4 July 1863 72 15 Hablot Knight Browne, ‘The End of Quilp’, The Old Curiosity Shop (London: Chapman and Hall, 1907) 86 16 Hablot Knight Browne, ‘The Lord Chancellor copies from Memory’, Bleak House (London: Chapman and Hall, 1907) 96 17 Hablot Knight Browne, ‘The Appointed Time’, Bleak House (London: Chapman and Hall, 1907) 97 ix