Exploring London Through the Artist's Eye

"... this tide is always moving! Always! When all those people we now see in such activity are in their graves, the same hurried activity will still continue here ..." - Hans Christian Andersen

When Hans Christian Andersen visited London in June 1847 he was obviously impressed by the pace of London life. In his autobiography he called the English capital,

"London, the city of cities! ... Here is Paris but with a mightier power; here is the life of Naples but without its bustle."

Hans Christian Andersen was not the only notable figure of the 19th Century to be struck by the pace of London life. When the composer Felix Mendelssohn visited London in 1829 he wrote to his sister,

"It is fearful! It is mad! I am quite giddy and confused. London is the grandest and most complicated monster on the face of the earth."

These observations of London are just a few of the many descriptions which can be found on the interactive map, Lost & Found: A European Literary Map of London. 

As a global city, once at the heart of a massive colonial Empire, London has of course long attracted visits by writers, artists and intellectuals from around the world. University College London is curating how London has been seen through the eyes of Europe's cultural luminaries by mapping some of these observations of the city.

'Lost & Found: A European Literary Map of London' is peppered with a series of colorful markers, each bearing the name of a European writer, artist or intellectual who has visited the city. Click on a marker and you can read an excerpt from the named cultural icon describing their impressions of London. The excerpts are taken from novels, letters and biographies, so contain a mix of fictional and non-fictional descriptions of the capital.

The map's curators acknowledge that at the moment there is "an over-representation of white, male writers" on the map - so they welcome ideas for new passages which can be added to the map, particularly from under-represented groups. You can submit "descriptions of different sites/encounters with London, written in European languages beyond English" by completing a short form.