I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is exactly the kind of thing I would love to take Eleanor off to London to do. I mean, we'd obviously see many other sights too, but imagine it! Mudlarking! You have to get a special permit and everything, but I can not imagine a better way to spend an afternoon in one of my favorite countries, than searching for lost bits of history. Of course, the chances of finding something rare or centuries-old is slim, but I also think those ordinary bits are just as important - an item dropped by accident, forever lost to the Thames, the owner thinks. Yet the objects discovered sometimes end up memorializing those every-day individuals who crossed the Thames time and again just going about their daily lives.
Obviously I really liked he book.
My only complaint is no fault of the publisher. I prefer my plain old regular Kindle to the Kindle Fire, so the images were all in black and white. Even when viewed this way, they were gorgeous and so much detail was preserved, thanks to the everlasting secret-keeping of the Thames and her mud. I can only imagine how stunning the objects would be in color - or in real life, even better. This is definitely a book to own in physical form, if this subject interests you. Many will probably call it a coffee table book, but this one really is meant to be read. I also found myself Googling more images as I read, and found some neat treasures.
Until I read this book, I did not know 'mudlarking' was a thing, or that it even had this delightful name. I mean, it probably occurred to me at some point in the beginning of my love affair with the UK that the Thames would hold untold windows to the past, and you could easily go down and poke around to see what there is to be found. But aside from that, it is not something I gave much more thought to until this book popped up on a friend's reading shelf over on Goodreads.
The authors are mudlarkers themselves and the book opens by talking about who mudlarkers are and what they do. Each section following this was broken up by the kinds of items found, into categories. First the authors provide context for the items in brief histories of the periods discussed, which is helpful. I found that this way worked quite well, instead of dividing it up by the time periods to which the pieces belonged. The author provides information at the end of the text about how to get involved in mudlarking, as well as associated places to see around London, which I appreciated.
I was also interested to learn that a Thames Museum will be opening in the future. Currently objects found are often displayed in the Museum of London. It is also required that mudlarks must report finds to the authorities on any object three hundred years or older. It is comforting to see some regulation in this; just imagine what treasures might have disappeared into private collections were permits and such not required. Of course, we will never know all that was found by those early mudlarks - those Victorians who still seem to be a step ahead even though they're two hundred years behind us now.
There are so many treasures detailed in this book, I hardly know where to begin. We are treated to an assortment of beautiful objects, some for special occasions and some for daily use. Coins and market tokens are heavily represented here and I loved looking at the various designs - especially the Celtic coins and Hadiran's as well.. Also on display are various children's toys depicting knights, glass beads, clothing pins, clay pipes, and those specially designed Victorian-era hexagonal glass bottles that once contained poisons of many kinds.
The heartbreaking discovery included here was that of the skeleton of a twelve year old girl. Though the details of her short life are lost to history, experts determined that she had suffered from rickets, stunted growth especially evident between the ages of one and two. This poor child suffered from hunger and I want so badly to know more about her. I looked up further information about this discovery and what the area would have looked like when she died. I felt much better in knowing that she was not simply tossed into the river, and that she had been buried there, based on the findings of the research team. You can read more here and here.
I also learned of the floating prisons that once dotted the Thames, and how terrible the conditions were. That information made the discovery of an 18th century ball and chain all the more interesting. The lock was still closed, so what does it mean? Was it tossed carelessly into the river one day when no longer needed? Or did a prisoner attempt an escape, only to drown due to the weight? We will never know.
Highly fascinating and absolutely recommended.
