London School of Economics & Political Science

A unique collection of preliminary working copies of poverty maps used during the preparation of the New Survey of London Life and Labour, which was published by LSE in 1931 under the direction of Sir Hubert Llewellyn Smith. Smith had previously served as an assistant on Charles Booth’s original Life and Labour of the People in London survey, and brought that experience to bear in updating and expanding Booth’s pioneering work for a new era. These maps were formerly held by the London School of Economics Geography Department. The New Survey captured the social and economic realities of interwar London with the same ambition and visual clarity as its predecessor. These working maps—marked, annotated, and visibly used—offer a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes processes of one of the 20th century’s most important social research projects. The London School of Economics remains the custodian of the Charles Booth archive, now inscribed on the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register, underscoring the enduring significance of these surveys and the maps that shaped them.