So the new App which “takes users on a journey through the darker side of Charles Dickens’ London” is not only fascinating to those in London for the first time, it’s also a reminder to the good citizens of the city of exactly how grim it was 200 years ago...

...to the day, 7 February 1812, when the great British writer was born.

The new App has been created by the Museum of London, and beautifully illustrated by renowned artist David Foldvari.

With the aid of the App, those eager to learn more about the darker side of life in the mid-Victorian period can do so via a series of short stories featured in ‘Sketches by Boz’, downloadable monthly from iTunes ("£1.49 a time, Sir, a humble price to pay for such quality, if I may say so, Sir!").

Narration is by the well-known British film and TV actor Mark Strong, and Dickens’ Dark London also features illustrated excerpts from some of Dickens’ most famous novels, from Bleak House to Oliver Twist.

All monthly editions of the App are finally brought together on an 1862 map of London, overlaid with modern satellite images of the capital, allowing readers to imagine the London of today’s considerably murkier past.

The first instalment of Dickens’ Dark London, ‘Edition 1, Seven Dials’ is available free of charge from the iTunes store.

Photos: Dickens Dark London