Dr. Johnson's London: Coffee-Houses and Climbing Boys, Medicine, Toothpaste and Gin, Poverty and Press-Gangs, Freakshows and Female Education [Hardcover]

Liza Picard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312276656 | ISBN-13: 978-0312276652 | Publication Date: July 23, 2001 | Edition: 1St Edition

The practical realities of everyday life are rarely described in history books. To remedy this, and to satisfy her own curiosity about the lives of our ancestors, Liza Picard immersed herself in contemporary sources - diaries and journals, almanacs and newspapers, government papers and reports, advice books and memoirs - to examine the substance of life in mid-18th century London. The fascinating result of her research, Dr. Johnson's London introduces the reader to every facet of that period: from houses and gardens to transport and traffic; from occupations and work to pleasure and amusements; from health and medicine to sex, food, and fashion. Stops along the way focus on education, etiquette, public executions as popular entertainment, and a melange of other historical curiosities.

This book spans the period from 1740 to 1770-very much the city of Dr. Johnson, who published his great Dictionary in 1755. It starts when the gin craze was gaining ground and ends just before America ceased being a colony. In its enthralling review of an exhilarating era, Dr. Johnson's London brilliantly records the strangeness and individuality of the past--and continually reminds us of parallels with the present day.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a follow-up to her Restoration London, Picard delivers an encyclopedic distillation of mid-18th-century daily life in Europe's largest, most dynamic city i.e., she conveys what it was like to be Sam Johnson's neighbor. Her zoom lens focuses on living and working conditions of both rich and poor, health and welfare systems (such as they were), crime and punishment, pleasures, cuisine, fads and fashions, manners and customs. She also features the gray fogs, rank smells, black filth, grinding poverty, nearly nonexistent hygiene (among all classes) and rampant disease. Her sources include travelers' accounts, local diarists, the Gentleman's Magazine, the Ladies Dispensary, or Every Woman Her Own Physician and Boswell's frank journals. Readers will not look again at historical portraits of Londoners without shuddering at what most history books conceal. Much of Picard's jocularity succeeds, as when she considers prices: "enough gin to get drunk on" cost a penny, "enough gin to get dead drunk on" cost tuppence; two-and-a-half shillings slightly more than a journeyman tailor's daily pay could get a tooth extracted or buy a chicken; a shilling and a pint of cheap wine afforded one a prostitute. This pleasingly plotless book offers fascinating snapshots of the appealing and the repellant in a particular time and place. 32 pages of color and b&w photos not seen by PW. (July)Forecast: The audience for this may be less specialized than it would seem, as film-goers and readers of period novels will find this chatty book an intriguing contrast to romantic depictions. It may also get a boost from a minor Johnson/Boswell revival, including the publication late last year of Peter Martin's A Life of James Boswell and Adam Sisman's forthcoming Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After deftly limning place, transport, and pyramidal hierarchy within 1700s London, this witty work by lawyer-author Picard a follow-up to her well-received Restoration London provides entrancing miniature glimpses of its inhabitants. Picard's fascination with the details of past lives led to skillful digging in numerous sources, including contemporary magazines, pamphlets, travel memoirs, guide- and how-to- books, and novels. Divided into four parts covering place, paupers, middle classes, and elites, the book shows that for the poor, life in the heart of first-wave, unregulated, industrial capitalism's heart included adulterated foods; crowded, unsanitary lodgings; wages often below sustenance; endemic illnesses; inadequate clothing. That such conditions parallel those of today's homeless and Third World poor is evident. Chapters on the middle class stray into plutcratic conditions (e.g., fashion, amusements, jewelry, theatre, and decoration), hence the final part's brevity. Throughout, Picard's crisp, accessible prose is polished with wry remarks. This work, which gets at the everyday historical particulars of London life at a fascnating time, will appeal to a wide audience. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries. (Photo inserts not seen.) Nigel Tappin, Huntsville, Ont.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1St Edition edition (July 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312276656
• ISBN-13: 978-0312276652
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,336,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk of 18th Century London, September 6, 2001

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Johnson's London: Coffee-Houses and Climbing Boys, Medicine, Toothpaste and Gin, Poverty and Press-Gangs, Freakshows and Female Education (Hardcover)

Author Liza Picard tells us right off that she is a lawyer by profession, not an historian. This opens her up to sniffy comments by academics who think no history can be written unless it done in the dullest way possible.

In spite of the fact Ms. Picard did voluminous research and adequately footnoted and indexed her book, she still came in for some sniping. In my mind, it is most unfair for she has produced an entertaining, interesting, breezy account of times during the reign of George III. (1740-1770)

Though Ms. Picard is clearly no fan of the revered Dr. Johnson and has a very poor opinion of biographer James Boswell, they do weave in and out of the text. She divides the book into three sections, The Poor, The Middling Sort, and The Rich. She gives us what they wore, ate, with what they entertained themselves, and how they lived with great immediacy. You will wonder how anyone survived to grow up in filthy, smelly, incurious London. Most surprising to me was the Gin Wars and how pervasive this cheap form of alcohol was among the poor. It had a huge effect on a great portion of the populace for an extended period of time. The ladies' three-foot high hairdos forced them to sit on the floor of coaches when traveling to balls. I couldn't help but wonder if they just slid out the door when they reached their destinations.

"Dr. Johnson's London" is a lively read with interesting details. Ms. Picard does a good job of getting us into the sensibilities of 18th century London. Recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Never Boring, December 28, 2001

By 

Nhaka - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Johnson's London: Coffee-Houses and Climbing Boys, Medicine, Toothpaste and Gin, Poverty and Press-Gangs, Freakshows and Female Education (Hardcover)

This book is for those who want something more than the obvious. Liza Picard's strength is that she does not attempt to be an historian. She states her limitations and then proceeds to examine the things that are of interest to her in the period.
I enjoyed the fact that the author is present in the text. It adds to the book and reminds the reader that this is one person's description of the life and times of London mid-1700s.

The chapter and section headings are clear and precise allowing the reader to dip into areas of particular interest. Picard brings the period to life with her own style which is rarely boring and never pedantic.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A much better read than the previous reviewers suggest, August 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Dr. Johnson's London: Coffee-Houses and Climbing Boys, Medicine, Toothpaste and Gin, Poverty and Press-Gangs, Freakshows and Female Education (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book very much, which has been criticized as "history lite" by an earlier reviewer. The reviewer is correct that this is not the book for serious scholars of the period. Then again, many potential readers -- myself included -- are not scholars or academics and will find Picard's vignettes of daily life in Georgian London to be a satisfying read. I believe that anyone who has enjoyed such recent popular histories as Alison Weir's Plantagenet/Tudor series and biographies such as Amanda Foreman's Duchess of Devonshire and Stella Tillyard's Aristocrats will find this book enjoyable as well.