Author: G. L. Apperson

G. L. Apperson was the publishing name of George Latimer Apperson, an English writer and editor with a particular interest in language, custom, and the records of everyday life. Born in 1857, he contributed to periodicals and produced reference works on proverbs and familiar sayings as well as books about London. The Social History of Smoking first appeared through Martin Secker in 1914. Rather than treating tobacco as a medical or commercial subject, Apperson follows changes in British manners, fashion, and public attitudes from the early modern period into Victorian society. Pipes, cigars, and cigarettes become evidence of shifting class habits and ideas about acceptable behaviour. The book reflects the antiquarian curiosity also visible in Bygone London Life and Apperson’s collections of quotations and proverbs. His method gathers literary examples, anecdotes, and social observations into an accessible historical narrative. The Social History of Smoking remains a characteristic example of his ability to turn scattered cultural details into a connected account of changing English life.