There can be few reference librarians unfamiliar with Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. The Reverend Ebenezer Cobham Brewer's somewhat idiosyncratic dictionary first appeared in 1870 and was soon followed by a “revised and updated” edition which, now out of copyright, can be freely accessed online (see for example version at www.archive.org/details/brewersdictionar000544mbp). New editions appeared over the years with substantial modification and updating taking place for the centenary edition of 1970. Just released is an eighteenth edition edited by Camilla Rockwood (review upcoming) and published under the Chambers label (the previous editions were published under the Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Cassell labels; both these and Chambers are owned by the multinational Hachette Livre publishing group). The last couple of decades have also seen several spin‐offs, notably Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable, recently released in a second edition (Ayto and Crofton, 2006), but also more diverse titles such as Brewer's Britain and Ireland (Ayto and Crofton, 2005), Brewer's Irish Phrase & Fable (McMahon and O'Donoghue, 2004) (RR 2006/196) and the even more specialised and removed Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics (Donaldson, 2002). Now we have a further offshoot, Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase & Fable. This is the work of Londoner Russ Willey, author of the London Gazetteer (Willey, 2006) (RR 2007/161) also published by Chambers, which now seems to be the flag under which the Brewer's books will fly.
In many respects this London phrase and fable is a mixing of material from other components of the Brewer's family, especially the modern Brewer's, with a substantial dollop of content from the London Gazetteer. As Willey expounds in his short Introduction “Brewer's London brings together the London related entries from Brewer's and Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable (often with added London detail), abridged geographical information from Brewer's Britain & Ireland and Chambers (sic) London Gazetteer, selected entries from Chamber's Dictionary of Literary Characters [RR 2005/144] and more than a thousand wholly new entries” (pvi). Altogether there are over 2,000 entries, probably about half of which are “geographical” (districts, streets, tube lines, stations, etc) drawing heavily on the London Gazetteer, and half covering a diverse range of topics such as major buildings, historical events, London characters (although entries for individuals are relatively restrained), customs and ceremonies, institutions, artistic and literary works, names and nicknames and slang. The latter few topics feature prominently and add to the book's appeal. Cockney rhyming slang has a good number of entries, but a special strength is the coverage of modern London in relation to popular culture with entries such as Eastenders (a popular television opera set in London) and Lovely Jubbly (a phrase from the sitcom Only Fools and Horses).
Entries are clearly set out in two‐column arrangement in alphabetical letter‐by‐letter order. Cross‐referencing is both by see entries and the capitalisation of entry terms in the text. As with the other Brewer's titles an index is not provided. To give a fuller flavour of the range of topics covered, take as example a one page run of entries in the sequence for the letter B. Bendy Buses has c.80 words and ends with a quote from a September 2008 issue of the Evening Standard newspaper relating to Mayor Boris Johnson's “timetable of doom” plan for their withdrawal. This is followed by Bennet's Hill, a City street, again covered in about 80 words. Bentley Priory, a Stanmore mansion best known as the wartime headquarters of Royal Air Force Fighter Command, follows with 140 words. Next is Berk, a “mild insult” of which an uncle was much fond, outlined in just 60 words and ending with a quote illustrating the origin of the term from Harry Secombe's book Strawberries and Cheam. Berkeley Dress Show (an annual fashion show) follows with 20 words while the page is concluded by Berkeley Square. This has c.170 words and ends with four lines from the well known wartime song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (nightingales probably never sang in the square which today is one of London's most disappointing green spaces, a traffic circled grassed oblong populated mainly by pigeons and only redeemed by some majestic London plane trees). Looking elsewhere entries with a personal resonance include Dicky Bird, a slang expression much used in my family meaning to say nothing, Spring‐Heeled Jack, a devilish figure with which a grandmother frequently threatened me as a wayward child, and Waterloo Sunset, the Ray Davies song that forever evokes memories of Waterloo Bridge and the evening walk to the train as an orange winter sun sinks over Westminster.
As the brief selection above hopefully indicates, Willey's coverage is broad, well selected and above all absorbing and entertaining. Once I picked up the book I found it hard to put down. Even for a near native Londoner (I was brought up just beyond the Greater London boundary) there are many entries which provide new or additional information. Equally, there is much that is familiar and it is difficult to identify any significant areas of omission or spot any serious errors. What is absent, as with the rest of the Brewer's family, is bibliographical referencing or a list of sources consulted. These though, are not the Brewer's way and this book, above all else, is a Brewer's for London, Londoner's and those who love London or who would like to get acquainted with the great city. As such it belongs in London libraries of all types and other larger UK public libraries, plus those elsewhere maintaining general interest collections relating to the UK. The £25 price tag for a hardback also makes the book an affordable personal purchase.
