ould appear when the minds of the people of England are
concerned with this wonderful panorama of the past history of the chief
city of the Empire. The Pageant will be all very beautiful, very grand,
instructive and edifying, and profoundly interesting; but, after all,
London needs no Pageant to set forth its attractions, historical and
spectacular. London is in itself a Pageant. The street names, the
buildings, cathedral, churches, prisons, theatres, the river with its
bridges, and countless other objects, all summon up the memories of the
past, and form a Pageant that is altogether satisfying. Many books have
been written on the greatest city of England's Empire--some learned and
ponderous tomes, others mere guide books; some devoted to special
buildings and foundations, others to the life, manners, and customs of
the citizens. This work differs from other books in that each chapter is
written by an expert who has made a special study of the subject, and is
therefore authoritative, and contains all the information which recent
investigations have brought to light. It is not exhaustive. London
contains so much that is of profound interest, that many additional
volumes would be needed in order to describe all its treasures. The city
of Westminster, the suburbs and the West End, have for the most part
been excluded from the plan of this work, and possibly may be treated of
in a subsequent volume. The domain of the city of London, not of the
London County Council, provides the chief subjects of these volumes,
though occasionally our writers have strayed beyond the city boundaries.

We have endeavoured to give sketches of London, its appearance, its life
and manners, at various stages of its history. We have tried to describe
its historic buildings, its fortress, its churches, the Exchange, and
other houses noted in its annals. Monastic London is represented by the
Charterhouse. Legal London finds expression in the histories of the
Temple and the Inns of Court. Royal London is described by the story of
its Palaces; and the old city life of the famous merchants and traders,
artizans and 'prentices, is shown in our glimpses of Mediaeval London,
the histories of the Guildhall, the City Companies, the Hanseatic
League, Elizabethan London, and in other chapters. Old inns,
coffee-houses, clubs, learned societies, and literary shrines present
other phases of the life of the old city which are not without their
attractions, and hel