Charles Booth London Poverty Maps (1902) – back in stock

We’ve just acquired another set of Charles Booth’s Poverty Maps of London, from the third (1902) series. These sought-after maps, which show relative levels of wealth across late-Victorian London, have featured in a number of BBC TV documentaries in recent years.

Booth was a philanthropist and social reformer. His well-researched maps showed that abject poverty in the city was more widespread than believed. He popularised the concept of the “poverty line”, and his work contributed to the introduction of the state pension in Britain.

The streets on the maps are colour-coded according to average income levels: black – “lowest class”; dark blue – “very poor”; light blue – “moderate poverty”; purple – “poverty & comfort (mixed); pink – “fairly comfortable”; red – “well-to-do” and yellow – “wealthy”.