Paved with Gold: The Romance and Reality of the London Street

First Published in 1971. Part of the Library of eight volumes on Victorian Times, this was subtitled as 'an unfashionable novel' when published. Toward the end of his short but informative preface to Paved With Gold, first published in book form in 1858, Augustus Mayhew states that the descriptions of boy-life in the streets, the habits and customs of donkey-drivers, the peculiarities of trampdom and vagrancy, have all resulted from long and patient inquiries among the individuals themselves. The convincing liveliness of these passages testifies to his minute and accurate knowledge of London lower-class life, and this personal experience of the low life he 'romanced' about is, in turn, the basis of our interest in Paved With Gold.