Charles Booth (1840-1916) - photo 1
Charles Booth (1840-1916) - photo 2
Charles Booth (1840-1916) - photo 3
Charles Booth (1840-1916) - photo 4

Charles Booth (1840-1916)

Lot 86
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 4 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 470216
Lot 86 | Charles Booth (1840-1916)
Estimate value
£ 4 000 – 6 000
Charles Booth (1840-1916)

Life and Labour of the People in London. 1902-1903

BOOTH, Charles (1840-1916). Life and Labour of the People in London. First Series: Poverty … Second Series: Industry … Third Series: Religious Influences … Final Volume: Notes on social influences and conclusion. London: Macmillan and Co, 1902-1903.



The final and most comprehensive review of poverty in London, illustrated by 20 of Booth’s famous ‘poverty’ maps. Booth and his team embarked on a landmark social and economic survey that found that 35% of Londoners lived in poverty. The accompanying maps are lithographed on a scale of 6 inches to one mile, each with a key showing the streets colour-coded according to the wealth of the inhabitants, ranging from black (‘Lowest class’) through shades of blue and purple (‘Very poor’, ‘Moderate Poverty’, ‘Poverty & Comfort [mixed]’), to red (‘Well to-do’); the ‘Wealthy’ are colour-coded in yellow. He began in 1887 with a pilot survey of Tower Hamlets and continued for fifteen years. He and his small army of researchers gathered as much information as they could through a great variety of sources: interviews, questionnaires, reports from London school board visitors, and house-to-house visits. While the two previous editions of his work had focussed on a detailed scientific analysis of ‘Poverty’ and ‘Industry’, with this third edition Booth used the subsequent 7 volumes of ‘Religious Influences’ to focus on less objective ‘impressions’ and ‘attitudes’, with much success, as it gave ‘the religious series … a unity and pointedness that the earlier series … lacked’ (Fried and Elman, Charles Booth’s London, 1969, p. xxxv).



17 volumes, octavo (209 x 140mm). Half-titles, 87 graphs, 3 of which folding, one black and white map, 15 maps in the text, 20 coloured ‘poverty’ maps backed on linen, all but one folding, each with original key (lacking the map of Inner London showing places of worship, elementary schools and public houses that should be in the flap on rear pastedown of final volume, occasional scattered spotting to text, vols 15 and 16 with minor marginal staining, a few roughly opened gatherings with associated marginal chips and tears, one leaf in vol. 16 almost torn in two). Original publisher’s vellum, gilt spines, gilt top edges, others uncut (many gatherings unopened, spines darkened and soiled, final volume with head of spine cracked and split and almost detached, extremities rubbed). Provenance: T.C. Witherby (contemporary pencilled annotation and ownership inscriptions in a few vols) – ‘Reference. Not to be taken out of the house’ (paper library labels on upper covers, lacking from vol. 4).

Place of origin:Northern Europe
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2020 – 09.12.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>