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The idea of printing and publishing “A History of the Cries of London—Ancient and Modern,” somewhat in the manner and style here presented to the public, was first suggested to me by the late Rev:—

Author of “The Bewick Collector,” 1866. The Supplement to same, 1868, and “Bewick’s Woodcuts,” 1870, etc., and at the time, Rector of West Hackney Church, Stoke Newington, London, N., in the year 1876.

While actively engaged in preparing for publication “The Life and Times of

late of Seven Dials: Ballad Monger,”—to which the present work may be considered a sequel, and the completion of the series on the subject of the—

“CURIOSITIES OF STREET LITERATURE,”

I had frequently to consult the pages of “The Bewick Collector,” and other works of a kindred character for information respecting the elder Catnach, who, by himself, and afterwards in conjunction with his partner, and subsequently his successor, William Davison, employed Thomas Bewick, the famous English artist who imparted the first impulse to the art of wood engraving, for several of their Alnwick publications. This led to my communicating with the Rev. Thomas Hugo, wherein I informed him of my plans, and of the object I had in view with regard to the publication I was then preparing for the press: at the same time soliciting his co-operation, especially in reference to the loan of some of the Bewick wood-cuts, formerly possessed by the elder Catnach, while he was in business as a printer, in Narrowgate Street, Alnwick, an ancient borough and market-town in Northumberland.

In answer to my application, I received the letters that follow:—

The Rectory,
WEST HACKNEY,
STOKE NEWINGTON,
LONDON,
N.

21st August, 1876.

Dear Sir,

I shall be glad to aid you in any way. I must ask you to see me on some morning, between nine and eleven o’clock, and to make a previous appointment, as I am a working man, with plenty to do.

Yours sincerely,

Charles Hindley, Esq.,
76, Rose Hill Terrace,
Brighton.