There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear — the city of London and the South Seas. 

-Herman Melville

London is a constantly transforming city so it’s great to see what it looked like in early photography. Here is is just a taster Historic England’s archive of over 9m images that trace the history of how the nation has evolved. The evolution of famous landmarks is stunning as London and England have grown upwards and outwards.

From dancing bears to east End slums, these remarkable images – each at least a century old – reveal a London lost time.

source:telegraph