Edward Gleichen (1863–1937)

Edward Gleichen had a rather interesting life; nicknamed “Glick” by Vanity Fair he was a Hohenlohe-Langenburg Count who became a soldier and author. He edited The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan: a compendium prepared by officers of the Sudan government, which sounds exotic and sometimes across as such, what with the reports of restless natives and attempts to tame the Nile and its swamps. The Bahr-el-Ghazal gets a mention and fans of the Lado Enclave get glimpses of what was to come.

This was the first book ever written which attempted to describe all of the outdoor statues of London, and so is of historical importance. The reader may disagree with the author's opinions of some of the works, but that does not detract from the book's interest. It has numerous pictures and includes some information which may surprise the reader - for instance, did you know that the statue of Eros (strictly the Angel of Christian Charity) was for some years during the 1920's moved from show more Piccadilly Circus to Victoria Embankment gardens, while work was carried out on the Piccadilly underground station? Some of the information is of course now out of date (the statue of Charles I in Soho Square, which Gleichen refers to as "vanished", has now been returned) and a lot of modern statues now exist which are obviously not referred to, but if you are interested in outdoor sculpture you should try to locate a copy. I would guess that even this reprint, from 1973, is now long out of print. show less