London to the Fire

Recent Developments.-After

Queen Victoria's accession in 1837 the City was almost wholly given up to commerce. New streets opened out its congestion, but the larger developments were in the West End. Regent street, the West End's principal shopping thoroughfare, was part of the ambitious project of the prince who became King George IV. The advent of railways gave additional impetus to the extension of the metropolis; and in 1851 the Great Exhibition, held in Hyde Park, and still repre sented by the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, set the example of international exhibitions to other nations, added largely to the trade of the country, and made the capital itself far better known to foreign visitors.

The larger part of the City has been newly built in stone. London made a worthy contribution both in men and treasure to the World War and for the first time since the days of William the Conqueror was attacked by forces from overseas. Air-raids by zeppelin and aeroplane took place at intervals from May 31, 1915, to May 20, 1918; 355 incendiary and 567 explosive bombs were dropped in the City, completely destroying 174 buildings, seriously damaging 617 others, killing 524 persons and injuring 1,264, and doing damage to the estimated value of £2,042,000. The corporation of the City of London is now surrounded by 28 municipal boroughs (including the City of Westminster) and an inhabited area of some 70o square miles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Much

information concerning the earliest period is contained in the Roman and Anglo-Saxon sections of Victoria County History of London, vol. i. (19o9) ; W. Lethaby's Londinium (1923), for architecture; W. Page's London: Its Origin, etc. (1923), which carries the history through Norman times; London, vol. iii. (1928) of the Historical Monuments Commission ; and Prof. Haver field's works, particularly Journal of Roman Studies, vol. i. Sir G. L. Gomme, in The Governance of London (1907), London, and other books, has striven to find an unbroken link between the historic City and London of the Romans.

For the middle ages sources are very numerous. Liebermann's Gesetze der Angelsachsen contains many London records of early date. J. H. Round's Geoffrey de Mandeville (1896) and The Com mune of London (1899), and Miss Bateson's "A London Municipal Collection of the Reign of John," in English Historical Review, vol. xvii., must be read for Norman London and the rise of the mayoralty. The City corporation has published many of its muniments, which remain the basis of civic history. Included in these are the following edited by H. T. Riley: Munimenta Gildhallae (1859, Rolls Series), which contains the Liber Albus, written in 1419, and the Liber Custumarum (an English translation of the first-named printed in 1860 ; Chronicles of the Mayor and Sheriffs of London, 118o-1274 (1863) and translations of the Liber de Antiques Legibus; and French Chronicle of London, 1259-1343 (1844-46, Camden Society) ; and Memorials of London and London Life in the 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (1868), the last a selection of documents from the records known as the City Letter Books. Complete Calendars of these Letter Books from A to L-Edward I. to Henry VII.-have

been edited by R. R. Sharpe (1899-1912), who also has edited the Hustings Wills (1889-9o) and early Coroner's Rolls. Other archives at Guildhall, edited by A. H. Thomas, are Plea and Memoranda Rolls, 1323-64 (1926) and Early Records of the Mayor's Court, 1298-1307 (1924). Full translations of the City's charters are given in W. de G. Birch's Historical Charters and Constitutional Documents of the City of London (1887).

John Stow's Surveigh of London (1598, 1603) edited by C. L. Kingsford (1908) , invaluable for its pictures of London in the Elizabethan age, is a basis of much knowledge of earlier times. It also contains the first written description of London, by Fitzstephen in the year 1174. Kingsford's Chronicles of London (19o5) brings together chronicles written between 1200 and 1516. H. B. Wheatley's The Story of London (Mediaeval Towns series, 1904) and W. J. Loftie's A History of London (1883) cover the period. Accounts of trade and craft guilds are contained in W. Herbert's Twelve Great Livery Companies of London (1837) ; W. C. Hazlitt, Livery Com panies (1892) ; G. Unwin, Gilds and Companies of London (1918). Many of the Companies have published their separate histories.

London's religious houses and ecclesiastical affairs are dealt with in detail by the Victoria County History of London, vol. i., and Dugdale's Monasticon; and the parishes till 1700 by Newcourt's Repertorium, and its continuation, G. Hennessy's Novum Repertorium (1898). A. B. Beaven's Aldermen of the City of London (1908-13) is a full record of that body. W. G. Bell's Great Plague in London in 1665 (1924) and Great Fire of London (192o) give accounts of the two catastrophies based on recent research. Dr. Reginald Sharpe's London and the Kingdom written from the civic archives, is an admirable exposition of the City's political history. The London Topographical Society has published facsimiles of early London maps. Views of typical buildings of past ages are given in J. T. Smith's Ancient Topography of London (1815), J. W. Archer's Vestiges of Old London (1851) and P. Norman's London Vanished and Vanishing (19o5). Many of the larger historical buildings still standing and certain parishes are the subject of monographs by the London Survey committee.

General histories of London begin with Stow. J. Howel's Londin opolis (1657) is Stow's book with additions, and it is largely augmented in J. Strype's edition of 1720, a standard work, and subsequent issues.

Other histories of wide scope are Maitland's London (1739) ; T. Pennant's London (I79o) ; J. P. Malcolm's Londinium Redivivum (5803) ; T. Allan, History and Antiquities of London (1827-29) ; Sir W. Besant's Survey of London (19o2-o8) ; and notably H. P. Wheatley and Cunningham's London Past and Present (1891). The Times "Book of the City of London" (1928), by various authors, pre sents the results of recent scholarship. For outer London, D. Lyson's Environs of London (1792-1811) is authoritative, and much informa tion is given by W. Thornbury and E. Walford's Old and New London and Greater London (5873-78). (W. G. B.)