Outer East London

Charles Booth's poverty map of Bow, Bromley, Poplar, Stepney, Mile End, and Limehouse, one of the poorest parts of London in 1900. The map's legend explains the colour-coding: yellow (wealthy), red (well-to-do), pink (fairly comfortable), purple (poverty & comfort mixed), light blue (moderate poverty), dark blue (very poor), black (lowest class).



Booth's "Inquiry into Life and Labour in London" is now rightly celebrated as a landmark moment in the development of sociological research. Published in 17 volumes between 1889 and 1903, the report describes the living and working conditions of Londoners at the turn of the 20th century in exquisite detail. The maps which were published to accompany the report are perhaps its greatest achievement as they so vividly display the wealth disparities across the city. Booth's final conclusion was that a full third of London's population were living below the population line, a shocking figure.



Printed colour. [LDN6315]