Favourite London book - Ric

Question of the week: Tell us about one of your favourite London books.

"My favourite book about London is a bit of a rarity. So you might have to search at Senate house or the London Library for it. It is also nearly 200 years old.

River Thames frost fairs were held on the Tideway of the River Thames at London between the 15th and 19th centuries when the river froze over. During that time the British winter was more severe than now, and the river was wider and slower. The frost fair of 1814 began on February 1, and lasted four days. An elephant was led across the river below Blackfriars Bridge. During the same year printer named Davis published a book entitled: 'Frostiana; or a History of the River Thames in a Frozen State'.

By the way, for those of you interested in frost fairs on the Thames, there is a frieze in the pedestrian tunnel running under the south bank of Southwark Bridge with a frost fair inscription on it."
- Ric

(NB - Davis's book is rarer than that, even - you'll have to visit the British Museum if you want to read this. Our ILL partners, The London Library, can lend you Famous frosts and frost fairs in Great Britain : chronicled from the earliest to the present time by William Andrews from 1887, though. Miss Alice)

* Photo by Diamond Geezer, used under Creative Commons, with thanks. See also Diamond Geezer's excellent London blog