Printed Ephemera
Our printed ephemera collection offer a distinctive interpretation of London’s social and cultural history through 150,000 ‘throw-away’ items
Blogs-And-Stories

The eccentric dentist who embalmed his wife
Here’s the curious tale of Martin van Butchell’s first wife

From London Museum to the Battle of the Somme
The story of London Museum’s first paid employee, Maurice Edgar Read

Why are these Victorian Christmas cards so weird?
Musical cats. Violent clowns. Friendly flies. Greetings cards looked a little different in the 1800s

Quirky Victorian Valentine’s Day cards
A stuffed canary on a card? A lobster in love? The Victorians had curious ways of showing romance

Who was publicly executed in London?
Thirteen tales of the cooks, rebels, bankers and king who died in front of a watching crowd

London buses: Red, iconic, double-decked
You wait for ages, then all you need to know about London buses comes along at once

10 historical maps of London
Picking a route through the beautiful, intriguing and unusual maps in our collection

When London moved by tram
Powered by horses, then electricity, London’s tram network was once the largest in the world

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson: A pioneering doctor
The first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor