Description
Book SynopsisDr Henry Littlejohn's Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh (1865) was a landmark in urban management and public health administration. The Lancet described it as 'monumental'. The Report had a significance far beyond the boundaries of Edinburgh and his meticulous research produced penetrating insights into the links between poverty, employment and public health in Victorian cities. Insanitary City reproduces the full Report and sets it in this wider context. For over half a century, Littlejohn's career as Police Surgeon, Crown witness in murder cases and medical advisor to the Scottish Poor Law authorities, gave him an unrivalled overview of the problems confronting Victorian society. In 1895 he was knighted 'for services to sanitary science'.
Trade Review'Rodger and Laxton have produced a masterly introduction to the 'Report'. It is authoritative, meticulously researched, full of new insights and written in a clear, flowing style.' Iain Macintyre (Past Vice-President, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) 'An essential work of explication and interpretation - the authors are amongst the most careful and accomplished of Britain's urban historians.' Professor Gerry Kearns (National University of Ireland) 'This book will be required reading for historians and historical geographers with interests in public health and medicine, urban administration, and the history of Edinburgh.' Professor Graham Mooney (Johns Hopkins University)
Table of ContentsList of figuresviii List of tablesxi Abbreviationsxi Acknowledgementsxii Prefacexv 1 Revealing the Insanitary City1 2 Public health and medical police before the 1850s16 3 Littlejohn's inheritance45 4 'The property of the public': the Report acclaimed101 5 Urban management in the age of Littlejohn159 6 Littlejohn and public health in Edinburgh after 1865209 Facsimile: Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh, 1865227 Identifying the different editions of Littlejohn's Report 228 Explanatory notes on the facsimile 434 Bibliography and sources439 Index454
