Murray's Guide to Modern London 1860

Although essentially a guide for visitors, this book is also an excellent read containing detailed descriptions of pretty well everything a tourist visiting London a century and a half ago might wish to know.

Packed with well researched facts and statistics we can wander around the streets, markets and fine buildings being told who lived where, what treasures were to be found within, the volume of trade conducted in the markets, the number of patients in the hospitals and the courses available at universities and colleges. We also visit prisons, exhibitions, clubs and societies, residences of the famous, sites associated with remarkable events and witness the diverse commodities passing through the docks.

Much can also be learned about how daily life then differed from today. Some things were better such as the workings of the Post Office 'letters posted before 6 in the evening would be delivered the same evening within 3 miles'. But much was worse such as the appalling sewage arrangements. 'The daily discharge into the Thames would cover 36 acres to a depth of 6 feet' but already there was an understanding of pollution and sewage works were planned.
A jewel of a book for anyone wishing to explore London during the first half of Victoria's reign.