Walking the Streets of Eighteenth-Century London

Walking the Streets of Eighteenth-Century London will entertain and inform all who are interested in literature history and the city of London. This unique book invites the reader to walk along the dirty crowded and fascinating streets of eighteenth-century London in an unusual way. Nine leading experts from the fields of literature history classics gender biography geography and costume offer different interpretations of John Gay''s poem Trivia: or the Art of Walking the Streets of Londoni (1716). The poem--a lively funny and thought-provoking statement about urban life--accompanies the essays in a new edition with comprehensive notes. The introduction paints a vibrant picture of London in 1716 depicting Gay''s fascinating life and literary world offering an invaluable guide to the poem. Together these elements allow the heat grime and smells of the underbelly of eighteenth-century London come alive in new ways.