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Stories

  • Article

How slums make people sick

A newly gentrified corner of Bermondsey leaves little clue to its less salubrious history. But a few intrepid writers recorded the details of existence in one of London’s most squalid slums.

  • Article

Dazzling luxury

As the 20th century dawned, both elite and masses basked in the marvellous and unearthly glow of the new electric illumination.

  • Article

Homes for the hives of industry

By building workers’ villages, industry titans demonstrated both philanthropy and control. Employees’ health improved, while rulebooks told them how to live ideal lives.

  • Article

Uncovering experiences of dementia

Focusing on three 19th-century women’s case notes, Millie van der Byl Williams explores how our definition of dementia has changed.

All stories (29)

Images

  • A young man sings and turns the pages of the music as a girl plays the piano. Colour wood engraving (?) after George Cruikshank.
  • A drunken party for friends of a nobleman who has inherited a large estate. Aquatint after H. Dawe, 184-.
  • A young nobleman listens as a lawyer tells him he has come into his inheritance. Aquatint after H. Dawe, 184-.
  • A man suddenly awakened by two squalling cats. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1806.
  • A pompous physician trying to impress the two ladies he is visiting. Etching, 1804.
  • A man fast asleep with his head back and wig dangling. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1806.
  • A man with an excruciating headache. Coloured etching by H. Cook, 1827, after M. Egerton.
  • A bailiff (Mr Fixem, centre) calls on an affluent man (left) to enforce payment of a debt, assisted by his assistant (Bung, right). Etching by George Cruikshank.
  • A child holds a large bunch of holly and two others watch as a young woman stands on a chair to reach the picture she is decorating for Christmas. Colour process print.
  • A seated gouty man with his bandaged leg on a gout stool. Coloured pencil drawing.
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All works (476)