Doctor Bokanky, The Street Herbalist

This engraving was published in Henry Mayhew's study of 'London Labour and the London Poor: The condition of those that will work, cannot work, and will not work', first published in 1851, with an additional volume in 1861 and a revised reprint in 1865. Mayhew commissioned the photographer Richard Beard to make daguerreotype portraits of some of the 'street folk' he interviewed. These were copied to make engravings to accompany the text of the publication. Mayhew's study does not include an interview with Dr Bokanky but his appearance and name suggests he may have originated from the 'East Indies' from where the Kalibonca root he was selling was sourced. His illustration appears alongside an account of 'street-sellers of Cough Drops and of Medical Confectionary' one of whom referred to the sale of herbs including 'horehound, for tea or decoctions; coltsfoot, for smoking as herb tobacco, ground-ivy for the blood (but little of it); hyssop for wind; and Irish moss for consumption. I’m never asked for anything improper.'