Of Freak Shows and Vitriol Attacks

British author Lee Jackson (The Last Pleasure Garden, A Dangerous Woman) has a new volume out in the States this month entitled A Dictionary of Victorian London: An A-Z of the Great Metropolis, from Anthem Press. It is an outgrowth of his eminently browsable Web site, The Victorian Dictionary, where you can find information--usually quoted from historical sources--on everything from “match-girls” and “domestic diddlers,” to “baby farming” and “man-bashers.” The site also contains collections of arcane street and criminal slang. This book might be just the thing for that language lover on your Christmas list.