Booth's Map of London Poverty: Clerkenwell, Bethnal Green, Spitalfields circa 1889 reproduction map laid on cloth in slipcase

Old Folding Maps specialise in supplying original maps and reproductions of rarer antique maps - all dissected, laid onto 100% natural linen cloth and supplied in unique hand-made matching slip cases. This is a very special gift for a map-lover.

The streets are coloured according to the general condition of the inhabitants (as the key).
Black - Lower class. Vicious, semi criminal
Dark Blue - Very poor, casual. Chronic want.
Light Blue - Poor. 18s - 21s. a week for a moderate family.
Purple -Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor.
Pink - Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings.
Red - Well-to-do. Middle class.
Yellow - Upper-middle and upper classes. Wealthy.

When this map was published:

Life expectancy in Victorian London was low. Middle-classes could expect to reach their 40’s, but for labourers and lower classes it was still only in the mid 20’s. The insanitary conditions and overcrowding meant that disease was rife. The first Cholera epidemic in London killed 7,000 in 1832. In 1871 50,000 people died from small pox in Britain and Ireland. Infant mortality rate was high - reaching a peak of 163 per 1,000 live births in 1899. It was not a legal requirement to register a birth until 1874, and women were often continually pregnant until menopause because each child would be lucky to survive past their fifth birthday. Chloroform was discovered to have anaesthetic properties and was used during labour. A total disregard for personal hygiene and the squalor of 19th century London meant that waterborne diseases were rife. Diarrhoea killed thousands of children every year. The Burial Acts of 1852 & 1853 addressed the problem of the overcrowding of bodies in urban churchyards by introducing more public cemeteries, and the first cremation in the UK was in 1885.