Legal London 1931 map showing the Inns of Court and Royal Courts of Justice

Legal London 1931 – Inns of Court Map

Name: Legal London 1931 – Inns of Court Map
SKU: 9611742282
Availability: InStock

Price range: £29.95 through £39.95

Legal London, 1931 – Inns of Court and the Royal Courts of Justice

This characterful 1931 map presents London through the world of the law. Centred on the Royal Courts of Justice and the Inns of Court, it maps the streets, alleys, churches, public buildings, hotels, taverns and theatres found within roughly half a mile of the legal quarter.

The result is very different from a conventional street map. Rather than treating all parts of central London equally, the design concentrates attention on the neighbourhoods associated with barristers, solicitors, judges, students and the institutions of the English legal profession.

The Inns of Court — Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn — had for centuries formed the professional and educational heart of the English bar. By 1931 they were surrounded by a dense urban landscape of chambers, courts, offices, churches and places of meeting and refreshment. The map turns that environment into an engaging visual portrait of inter-war legal London.

The Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, opened in the nineteenth century, provide the natural focal point. From there the map reaches toward Fleet Street, Holborn and the Thames, taking in many of the small streets and passages that give this part of London its distinctive character.

Decorative coats of arms and the parchment-style presentation reinforce the legal theme, while the density of named locations makes the map particularly rewarding for lawyers, legal historians and anyone with a personal connection to the Inns of Court.

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Description

Published in 1931 by the Barnard Press, Legal London is a specialised map of the legal quarter around the Royal Courts of Justice and the Inns of Court. It combines practical street information with a deliberately decorative presentation centred on the institutions and places associated with the law.

Map Details

Date: 1931
Publisher: Barnard Press, London
Subject: The Inns of Court and legal London
Coverage: Approximately half a mile around the Royal Courts of Justice
Features: Streets, alleys, churches, public buildings, hotels, taverns, theatres and coats of arms

The Inns of Court

Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn are among the oldest surviving legal institutions in London. Their halls, libraries, gardens and chambers created a distinctive professional landscape between the City and Westminster.

The map makes that geography unusually easy to understand by showing the Inns in relation to the surrounding streets and landmarks.

The Royal Courts of Justice and the Strand

The Royal Courts of Justice provide the principal reference point. Their position on the Strand placed them close to the historic legal districts around Temple and Lincoln’s Inn, while also connecting them with the commercial and cultural life of central London.

Inter-War London in Detail

Because the map dates from 1931, it preserves the district between the two world wars. Many of the major institutions survive, but individual buildings, businesses and smaller streets have changed. Taverns, hotels and theatres therefore add a social dimension to the legal geography.

A Map with a Very Particular Audience

This is not simply an old map of central London. Its subject is the culture and physical setting of the legal profession. That makes it especially suitable for barristers, solicitors, judges, law graduates, chambers and anyone interested in the history of the English courts.

Supplied unframed as a fine art print.