Just as we enjoy looking back on Victorian times, Victorians enjoyed looking back at their history. Magazines often featured "retrospective" looks at London, including visitors' accounts from earlier days. Here's a selection of articles about London before the Victorian era and in early Victorian days.

Origins of Bills of Mortality (Illustrated London Almanack, 1850)

Apparently since the time of Queen Elizabeth it was the custom in London to publicly post weekly notices of deaths and causes of death. This article also gives statistics on homes and home-building in London.

Two Hundred Years Ago, by Charles J. Peterson (Peterson's, 1856)

A look at Samuel Pepys' accounts of life in London in the 1700's.

Earthquake in London [1750] (Leisure Hour, 1860)

[Frost] Fairs on the Thames (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

How to Become a Freeman in the City of London (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1876)

On the ancient rights and privileges involved in being an actual "citizen of London."

The Civic Robes of London (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

A Girl's Rambles Through Haunted London, by James and Nanette Mason (Girl's Own Paper, 1886)

A multi-part article covering historic sites throughout metropolitan London.

Some Curious Corporation Customs, by T.F. Thiselton Dyer (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

London's Corporations have a wealth of history, insignia and pageantry that survived well into Victorian times.

Old Stone Signs of London (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1891A)

In the 17th century, houses, inns and pubs were often identified by stone signs set into their walls.

Roman London, by Eugene Lawrence (Harper's Monthly, 1891A)

London of Charles the Second, by Walter Besant (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

London of George the Second, by Walter Besant (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

A Walk in Tudor London, by Walter Besant (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

Great London Fires, by Sydney Greenwood (The Strand, 1893B)

London Sixty Years Ago, by S. Baring-Gould (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

A look at life in London of the 1830's, based on sketches by a German visitor.

Lord Mayors' Shows Past and Present, by Harry How (The Strand, 1895B)

From cavalcades on the water to "chariots of justice" by land, the swearing in of the Mayor of London has always been an affair of pomp and circumstance.

Some Historic Feasts, by Frederic Dolman (Windsor Magazine, 1898B)

Some amazing Lord Mayors' feasts and other great London banquets in history.

Paternoster Row in the 16th Century (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Brief article and illustration showing London in an earlier day.