Description

Charles Hindley (d.1893) wrote and edited many books on British popular literature and culture, including Curiosities of Street Literature (1871), Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings (1875) and The History of the Catnach Press (1886, also reissued in this series). This 1881 study traces the distinctive 'cries' of street traders in London from the time of Chaucer to the Victorian period and maintains Hindley's characteristic focus on people rather than mere facts. His use of nearly two hundred woodcuts, including many by Bewick, and his discussion of them at the beginning of the text, testifies to his enthusiasm for the printing press. Using evidence from 'broadsides, books or engravings', music and drama, Hindley vividly portrays the sights and sounds of the streets of London from many different periods, describing the vendors to be found in particular locations, and merchandise from cherries to ballad-sheets, shellfish to lavender, and scissors to ink.