Entry to The Strand from Charing Cross, plate twenty from Original Views of London as It Is 1842

Thomas Shotter Boys made this print, "Entry to The Strand from Charing Cross", as part of his "Original Views of London as It Is". The image is full of meaning as it captures the bustling streets of 19th-century London. Look at the architecture and the social dynamics of the time. How does Boys use visual codes to represent British culture? The layout of the city itself, with its grand buildings and monuments, speaks to the political and economic power of the British Empire. The print seems to present an image of London as a center of commerce, but we must ask, whose London is this? How are social classes divided? What institutions have shaped this urban environment? As historians, we need to look at maps, census data, newspapers, and other sources to understand the social conditions that influenced Boys and his art. Art is deeply rooted in social and institutional contexts.