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English

PREFACE

MR. PETER CUNNINGHAM'S Handbook of London: Past and Present, was first published in 1849 in two volumes post octavo, and a revised edition appeared in the following year in a single volume. The book at once took a high position in the literature of its subject on account of the fulness of information and accuracy of detail which distinguished it, and a new edition has long been called for. On the death of the author in May 1869, at the comparatively early age of fiftythree, his brother Colonel Francis Cunningham undertook the revision of the book for a new edition, but although he was energetic in the search for information, he put little of his extensive knowledge upon paper. On Colonel Cunningham's death the correction of the book and its completion to the present time was undertaken by the late Mr. James Thorne, author of Rambles by Rivers and of the Handbook of the Environs of London, who thoroughly revised the work and added much fresh information and many illustrative quotations. On Mr. Thorne's lamented death his MS. was handed to me for revision previous to publication.

I have been enabled to add considerably to the previous collections, and I may mention as one instance the account of the various buildings and localities in Southwark, in which department I have been greatly assisted by the kindness of Mr. W. Rendle, the historian of Southwark, whose knowledge of the history of that borough is most extensive. Many of the articles also had to be rewritten on account of the great changes that have occurred during the preparation of the work for the It will be seen that the stores of information contained in the Calendars of State Papers, and the remarkable report of Mr. Maxwell Lyte on the manuscripts in St. Paul's Cathedral, have been utilised, as well as other sources of information not generally known. I wish to express in the strongest terms my appreciation of the value of the

press.

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