21 NOVEMBER 1931, Page 58

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Mr. Beresford Chancellor has added to his numerous books about London a pleasant volume on The Romance of Soho (Country Life, 12s. 6d.), abounding in the minute details of typography and literary associations that interest many readers. The name Soho occurs in a document of 1632, and is credibly explained as a coursing term, as the City magnates used to course hares in its open fields and call off the hounds with the cry " So ho ! " The district was laid out for building in Charles II's reign, partly by Gregory King, the herald and map-maker, who was one of the earliest English students of population problems. Soho was for a time a fashionable resort, and the notorious Mrs. Cornelys had her assemblies at Carlisle House in Soho Square. Authors and artists lived in its narrow streets, and places of amusement were numerous. Gradually it became the foreign quarter that it is to-day. Mr. Chancellor has brought together plenty of anecdotes and gives some attractive illustrations.