London Types

One of the most notable portraits of Arthur Machen was taken by the photographer E O Hoppé, showing him at his most distinguished in a dark cloak and holding an ornamental cane. 

The Spitalfields Life blog is always full of interest about the characters and places of this East End district, exhibiting the same keen interest as Machen in the byways and curiosities of an outlying region of the city. 

The latest post celebrates the volume London Types (1926) by W. Pett Ridge, which features descriptions by that author and portraits by Hoppé of London characters, some of whom you can't help thinking might have stepped out of a Machen story. Pett Ridge was a bestseller in his time for his humorous tales of working-class Cockney life.

The portrait above is entitled 'Street Music'. Others depict servants, messengers, veterans, exiles, wide boys and wizened elders.

The book was presumably compiled around about the same time as Machen's The London Adventure (1924) and therefore gives some interesting descriptive context for his explorations. 

(Mark Valentine)

Photograph © the Estate of E O Hoppé.