142 The Strand
The home of John Chapman, 19th century literary + social magnet
Location: 142 The Strand, London, WC2R 1HH
Description: 142 Strand was the home of the brilliant, unconventional young publisher John Chapman. All the daring and avant-garde writers and thinkers of Victorian London gathered here, among them Thomas Carlyle, Dickens, Thackeray, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, and the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley (Darwin's 'bulldog'), as well as visiting Americans like Emerson, refugees from revolutionary Europe like Mazzini, and radical feminists like Barbara Leigh Smith, later founder of Girton College, Cambridge.
They contributed to Chapman's campaigning Westminster Review and attended his lively evening parties.
In 1851, Chapman brought Marian Evans - the future George Eliot - to London to edit the Review. Her arrival caused rows in the household, which included Chapman's wife and also his mistress.
The story is immortalised in the 2006 book by Rosemary Ashton.
|
The home of John Chapman, 19th century literary + social magnet |
Ranking This Month: 1831/3087
Pages Hit This Month: 58
Your Comments:
Other places nearby:
Enid Bagnold's Cow», 2.8km
Vampire author lived here», 0.7km
Orwell's Booklovers Corner», 3.5km
Lytton Strachey lived here», 1.0km
Bram Stoker's Heroic Deed», 2.7km
The Diary of a Drug Fiend», 2.4km
William S Burroughs lived here», 0.8km
Gothic Author Riddell lived here», 4.9km
Samuel Pepys birthplace», 0.5km
Anthony Trollope was born here», 0.8km
Location Pinpointed:
Open Street Maps», Google Maps»
