2-652-666 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Over London by Rail', 1872. Men and women in the back yards of tenements in the East End of London, with a steam locomotive passing over a bridge in the background. These were typical 19th century London artisan terraced houses with washhouses, privies and yards leading on to an alley serving them and a similar terrace, all dominated by the railway viaducts superimposed on their neighbourhood. Taken from London: A Pilgrimage by Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré. A Pilgrimage was a comprehensive portrait of London, but although the book was a commercial success many of the critics disliked it. Several were upset that Jerrold and Doré had concentrated on the poverty that existed in London. (Colorised black and white print).