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In: Historical Fiction·Historical Novels·Novels
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Old Saint Paul’s is a historical novel that intertwines the twin catastrophes of the 1665 plague and the 1666 Great Fire. The story opens in April 1665 with Stephen Bloundel, a disciplined grocer of Wood‑street, leading his household in prayer and pleading for divine mercy as the pestilence spreads through London. The narrative immediately situates the reader in a city besieged by disease, describing the contagion’s arrival via imported goods, the frantic spread through parishes, and the ominous signs that accompany it, comets, blood‑red sunsets, and strange tides. From this grim backdrop the novel launches a series of episodic tales, ranging from the grocer’s family and their apprentices to quack doctors and street duels, each set against the relentless advance of plague and, later, fire, culminating in the burning of St Paul’s Cathedral.
The prose reflects the mid‑nineteenth‑century sensibility of William Harrison Ainsworth, blending detailed period description with a melodramatic, moralising tone reminiscent of his contemporary, Daniel Defoe. Its language is formal yet vivid, offering a panoramic view of 17th‑century London life while focusing on personal dramas. Readers who enjoy richly textured historical fiction, especially stories that dramatise real events such as the Great Plague and the Great Fire, will find the novel’s blend of factual backdrop and fictional intrigue compelling.
The opening · free to read
The portion of the ensuing Tale relating to the Grocer of Wood-street, and his manner of victualling his house, and shutting up himself and his family within it during the worst part of the Plague of 1665, is founded on a narrative, which I have followed pretty closely in most of its details, contained in a very rare little volume, entitled, "_Preparations against the Plague, both of Soul and Body_," the authorship of which I have no hesitation in assigning to DEFOE. Indeed, I venture to pronounce it his masterpiece. It is strange that this matchless performance should have hitherto escaped attention, and that it should not have been reprinted with some one of the countless impressions of the "_History of the Plague of London_," to which it forms an almost necessary accompaniment. The omission, I trust, will be repaired by Mr. HAZLITT the younger, DEFOE'S last and best editor, in his valuable edition of the works of that great novelist and political writer, now in the course of publication. It may be added, that a case precisely similar to that of the Grocer, and attended with the same happy results, occurred during the Plague of Marseilles, in 1720.
For my acquaintance with this narrative, as well as for the suggestion of its application to the present purpose, I am indebted to my friend, Mr. JAMES CROSSLEY, of Manchester.
KENSAL MANOR HOUSE, HARROW ROAD, November 30, 1841.
CONTENTS.
BOOK THE FIRST--April, 1665.
1. The Grocer of Wood-street and his Family.
2. The Coffin-maker.
3. The Gamester and the Bully.
4. The Interview.
5. The Pomander-box.
6. The Libertine Punished.
7. The Plague Nurse.
8. The Mosaical Rods.
9. The Miniature.
10. The Duel.
BOOK THE SECOND.--May, 1665.
1. The Progress of the Pestilence.
2. In what Manner the Grocer Victualled his House.
3. The Quack Doctors.
4. The Two Watchmen.
5. The Blind Piper and his Daughter.
6. Old London from Old Saint Paul's.
7. Paul's Walk.
8. The Amulet.
9. How Leonard was cured of the Plague.
10. The Pest-house in Finsbury Fields.
11. How the Grocer shut up his House.
BOOK THE THIRD.--June, 1665.
1. The Imprisoned Family.
2. How Fires were Lighted in the Streets.
3. The Dance of Death.
4. The Plague-pit.
5. How Saint Paul's was used as a Pest-house.
6. The Departure.
7. The Journey.
8. Ashdown Lodge.
9. Kingston Lisle.
BOOK THE FOURTH.--September, 1665.
1. The Plague at its Height.
2. The Second Plague-pit.
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