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Poland
Street,
where Shelley
fled to
in
April 1811
after his
expulsion
from Oxford,
still stands,
now decorated
with a
tremendous
mural of
which Shelley
probably
would have
heartily
approved.
His first-floor
(second
floor to
Americans)
rooms were
for rent
in June
1999, and
the street-level
storefront
housed
a very good
Italian
restaurant.
There had
been a
plaque designating
the historical
importance
of the
site, but
the building’s
residents
told me
it had
been stolen
by American
tourists.
However,
most London
Shelley
sites have
fallen
victim to
the Victorian
passion
for urban
renewal
and the
twentieth
century
need for
vertical
space.
Lewis’s
Hotel on
St. James’ Street,
and Cook’s
Hotel
on Abermarle
Street
no longer
exist,
nor were
we able
to locate
the lodgings
Shelley
took
at Half
Moon
Street,
the Kentish
town
5 Church
Terrace
address,
Hans
Place,
13 Arabella
Road,
Norfolk
Street,
or the
Hunts’
houses
in the
Vale of
Health and
Lisson
Grove.
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