Women of the London Underworld
London: The Readers Library Publishing Company, [1938]. Single volume, measuring 7 x 4.25 inches: 254. Original wrappers printed in orange, white, and black; original matching dust jacket. Text block evenly browned, edgewear to jacket with partial splits at folds.
First paperback edition of this journalistic exposé of London street life, first published as Women of the Underworld in 1928. Ada Chesterton was the widow of G.K. Chesterton’s younger brother, Cecil, who died of his wounds at the end of World War I. In 1925, she went undercover in London’s shelters, lodging houses, and hostels to research In Darkest London, the first in a series of reports dealing with the lives of the urban poor. In Women of the London Underworld, she considers the precarious position of single women without means, open to exploitation on every front, “this heart-aching, ever-growing problem of the lonely, rootless girl in London.” Chesterton’s call for reform led to the founding of the Cecil Houses, named after her late husband, a series of shelters across London which provided safe lodging for any woman upon request. This paperback reissue was designed, in part, as a fundraising initiative to keep the Cecil Houses in operation. A near-fine copy.
Price: $100.00