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Twice Round the Clock : Twenty Four Hours in Victorian London
'Twice Round the Clock' is the defining work of George Augustus Sala (1828-1895) — a tour of 1850s London sights and sounds — one chapter for each hour of the day — published in 1859.
Sala was a prolific journalist, one of Dickens's protégés at the magazine 'Household Words': a colourful character, a bon viveur who seemed to spend much of his life on the cusp of bankruptcy. He was known for his drunken habits and quarrelsome manner. It is not insignificant, perhaps, that much of his early writing provides graphic descriptions of different examples of the capital's pubs and gin palaces.
'Twice Round the Clock' itself is something of a masterpiece. Written in over-wrought, exaggerated prose, full of Classical and literary allusions — rather rich, even by Victorian standards — it remains fascinating reading for anyone who loves either the ebullient language and literature of the mid-Victorian period or its social history. Sala himself chose to pre-empt his critics in the book's preface, damning his own work, with heavy irony, as: 'flippant, pretentious, superficial and yet arrogant of knowledge; verbose without being eloquent; crabbed without being quaint; redundant without being copious in illustration; full of paradoxes not extenuated by originality; and of jocular expressions not relieved by humour'. In fact, Sala's writing reveals not one iota of self-doubt, except submerged in his patent desire to impress and entertain the reader — a task in which he succeeds.
There are many, many gems herein for the social historian. To take some random examples, here we have Sala on the food enjoyed by Victorian gentlemen when dining out:
"See the pyramids of dishes arrive; the steaming succession of red-hot chops, with their brown, frizzling caudal appendages sobbing hot tears of passionate fat. See the serene kidneys unsubdued, though grilled, smiling though cooked, weltering proudly in their noble gravy, like warriors who have fallen upon the field of honour. See the hot yellow lava of the Welsh rabbit stream over and engulf the timid toast. Sniff the fragrant vapour of the corpulent sausage. Mark how the russet leathern-coated baked potato at first defies the knife, then gracefully cedes, and through a lengthened gash yields its farinaceous effervescence to the influence of butter and catsup. The only refreshments present open to even a suspicion of effeminacy are the poached eggs, glistening like suns in a firmament of willow-pattern plate; and those too, I am willing to believe, are only taken by country-gentlemen hard pressed by hunger, just to 'stay their stomachs,' while the more important chops and kidneys are being prepared."
Or here he describes, marvellously, the typical young foppish man-about-town of the period:
"'Swells.' I use the term advisedly, for none other can so minutely characterise them. Long, stern, solemn, languid, with drooping tawny moustaches, with faultlessly made habiliments, with irreproachable white neckcloths, with eyes half-closed, with pendant arms, with feet enclosed in mirror-like patent boots, the "swells" saunter listlessly through the ball-room with a quiet consciousness that all these dazzling frivolities are provided for their special gratification — which indeed they are."
I should note that I have toyed with Sala's text in two small ways — I hope he forgives me. First, I have moved the author's lengthy dedication/preface to the end of the book (where so many prefaces belong); second, I have added a brief explanatory sub-title, lest 'Twice Round the Clock' seem too mysterious to browsing readers. In exculpation for these changes, I have retained the forty-six illustrations by William M'Connel which graced the original.
Sala was a prolific journalist, one of Dickens's protégés at the magazine 'Household Words': a colourful character, a bon viveur who seemed to spend much of his life on the cusp of bankruptcy. He was known for his drunken habits and quarrelsome manner. It is not insignificant, perhaps, that much of his early writing provides graphic descriptions of different examples of the capital's pubs and gin palaces.
'Twice Round the Clock' itself is something of a masterpiece. Written in over-wrought, exaggerated prose, full of Classical and literary allusions — rather rich, even by Victorian standards — it remains fascinating reading for anyone who loves either the ebullient language and literature of the mid-Victorian period or its social history. Sala himself chose to pre-empt his critics in the book's preface, damning his own work, with heavy irony, as: 'flippant, pretentious, superficial and yet arrogant of knowledge; verbose without being eloquent; crabbed without being quaint; redundant without being copious in illustration; full of paradoxes not extenuated by originality; and of jocular expressions not relieved by humour'. In fact, Sala's writing reveals not one iota of self-doubt, except submerged in his patent desire to impress and entertain the reader — a task in which he succeeds.
There are many, many gems herein for the social historian. To take some random examples, here we have Sala on the food enjoyed by Victorian gentlemen when dining out:
"See the pyramids of dishes arrive; the steaming succession of red-hot chops, with their brown, frizzling caudal appendages sobbing hot tears of passionate fat. See the serene kidneys unsubdued, though grilled, smiling though cooked, weltering proudly in their noble gravy, like warriors who have fallen upon the field of honour. See the hot yellow lava of the Welsh rabbit stream over and engulf the timid toast. Sniff the fragrant vapour of the corpulent sausage. Mark how the russet leathern-coated baked potato at first defies the knife, then gracefully cedes, and through a lengthened gash yields its farinaceous effervescence to the influence of butter and catsup. The only refreshments present open to even a suspicion of effeminacy are the poached eggs, glistening like suns in a firmament of willow-pattern plate; and those too, I am willing to believe, are only taken by country-gentlemen hard pressed by hunger, just to 'stay their stomachs,' while the more important chops and kidneys are being prepared."
Or here he describes, marvellously, the typical young foppish man-about-town of the period:
"'Swells.' I use the term advisedly, for none other can so minutely characterise them. Long, stern, solemn, languid, with drooping tawny moustaches, with faultlessly made habiliments, with irreproachable white neckcloths, with eyes half-closed, with pendant arms, with feet enclosed in mirror-like patent boots, the "swells" saunter listlessly through the ball-room with a quiet consciousness that all these dazzling frivolities are provided for their special gratification — which indeed they are."
I should note that I have toyed with Sala's text in two small ways — I hope he forgives me. First, I have moved the author's lengthy dedication/preface to the end of the book (where so many prefaces belong); second, I have added a brief explanatory sub-title, lest 'Twice Round the Clock' seem too mysterious to browsing readers. In exculpation for these changes, I have retained the forty-six illustrations by William M'Connel which graced the original.
485 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1859
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 14, 2018
Sala has a wonderfully entertaining writing style, and the book's format (a tour of a different part of 19thc London at each hour of the day and night) is fascinating. I don't know why more people haven't heard of/read this book.
May 25, 2016
Salsa does like to show off his flowery language and his extensive vocabulary but he does give a fantastic detailed insight into the day to day life of Victorians.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews