A Hotel, an Editor, and the Night That Changed English Literature

In ‘This Week in History,’ an American editor seeks British authors in London; his limited success would nonetheless result in groundbreaking classics.

Literary milestones were achieved in the publication of two of England's great 19th-century authors in a British edition of an American magazine. Public Domain

As the American Civil War entered its third year, construction of the Langham Hotel in England began. This 10-floor hotel with its nearly 600 rooms, rose 156 feet into the London sky. It was completed shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War on June 10, 1865. The hotel was Europe’s most modern, with hot and cold running water, water closets, and an early form of elevators, not to mention its elegant design both on the interior and exterior.

The hotel’s design was a collaboration of several architects and designers, including interior designers, James Murray and Owen Jones; contractors, Lucas Brothers, which had recently built the London Bridge Railway Terminus Hotel; Jackson & Graham, a high-society furniture firm; and John Giles, who had actually won the design competition in 1862. It was architecturally designed in an Italian style, and, internally, boasted hand-printed wallpaper, 15,000 yards of Persian tapestries, and marble and silk decorations.