Old London vanishes, another London takes its place; the interesting old spots associated with the leisurely life and refinement of the century that has gone, are being swept away one by one. In many ways we would welcome a return of those dear old days, with their appreciation of the belles lettres and the fine arts, and with all their oddities and quaint customs, but they have gone for ever. They played their part in the development of the national life: to us they are but memories.
We owe no small debt of gratitude, however, to those who—like the author—amidst all the changes that are taking place, have tried to keep alive for us with pen and pencil, a remembrance of a period so different from our own. Especially, perhaps, will many of our American cousins recognise this debt when in their migrations they try to hunt up places of interest connected with their English forbears.
Mr. Chancellor is most happy as he takes us round the old streets and houses, and gives—as it were—almost personal introductions to the quaint and interesting people who inhabited them. His pages are sentient with living personages, and as we read we forget the years that have rolled away, while we enjoy the laugh and quip with the interesting old characters which are met with at every turn and corner.
To begin one’s peregrinations at the corner of Bond Street and Piccadilly seems at first sight a little arbitrary, but one soon realises that in starting from “Stewart’s,” and keeping within a half-mile radius of this centre, one is really covering by far the most interesting portion of the West End; while the old shop, which—during more than two centuries—has given its name to this corner of Bond Street, and which, as Mr. Chancellor declares, is to Americans one of the best known spots in Europe, is in itself a most interesting link with the past and present.
The Author, and the Publishers, acknowledge with thanks their indebtedness to Edward Gardner, Esq., for kind permission to reproduce six views of Old London from his unique Collection of Drawings and Prints.
Contents.
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| CHAPTER I.—PICCADILLY. Stewart’s Corner—Albemarle Street—Dover Street—The White Horse Cellar—Hatchett’s Restaurant—Berkeley Street—Devonshire House—Stratton Street—Bolton Street—Bath House—The Clubs of Piccadilly—Clarges Street—Half Moon Street—Cambridge House—Ritz Hotel—Down Street—Gloucester House—“Old Q.” | [1 to 28] |
| CHAPTER II.—ST. JAMES’S STREET & PALL MALL. The Green Park—Constitution Hill—Cleveland Row—St. James’s Palace—Arlington Street—St. James’s Street—The Clubs of St. James’s Street—Chocolate Houses—King Street—Pall Mall—Pall Mall Clubs—Pall Mall Taverns—Carlton House | [29 to 56] |
| CHAPTER III.—THE HAYMARKET, ST. JAMES’S SQUARE AND PICCADILLY (EAST). The Haymarket—The Haymarket Theatre—Suffolk Street—The Opera House—His Majesty’s Theatre—St. James’s Square—Jermyn Street—St. James’s Church—Piccadilly Circus—Pickadilla Hall—Piccadilly East—Quaritch’s—The Albany—Burlington House, Burlington Arcade | [57 to 83] |
| CHAPTER IV.—BOND STREET. Bond Street—Famous Residents—Prince of Wales’s Coffee House—Burlington Street—Burlington Gardens—Vigo Street—Clifford Street—Savile Row—Cork Street—Conduit Street—Maddox Street—George Street—Hanover Square—St. George’s Church—Brook Street—Grosvenor Street—Bruton Street—Grafton Street—Hay Hill—Berkeley Square | [84 to 114] |
| CHAPTER V.—MAYFAIR. Sir Richard Grosvenor and the Westminster Property—Origin of “Mayfair”—Davies Street—Grosvenor Square—North and South Audley Streets—Park Street—Norfolk Street—Upper Brook Street—Upper Grosvenor Street—Mount Street—Charles Street—Curzon Street—Curzon Chapel—Hertford and Chesterfield Streets—Lesser Streets of Mayfair—Park Lane—Tyburn Lane—Great Houses in Park Lane—Hamilton Place—Mayfair, the Home of Fashion | [115 to 140] |
PRESS OPINIONS.
“A good little book for pilgrims, ‘more especially,’ as it states, ‘those from America,’ who wish to recognise the multitude of distinguished ghosts who crowd the district dealt with.”—Graphic.