The 56 sketches concern London scenes and people and are divided into four sections: "Our Parish", "Scenes", "Characters", and "Tales". The material in the first three of these sections is non-fiction. The last section comprises fictional stories.
Our parish:
The Beadle. The Parish Engine. The Schoolmaster.
The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-pay Captain.
The Four Sisters.
The Election for Beadle.
The Broker's Man.
The Ladies' Societies.
Our Next-door Neighbour.
Scenes
The Streets - morning
The Streets - night
Shops and their Tenants
Scotland Yard
Seven Dials
Meditations in Monmouth-Street
Hackney-coach Stands
Doctors' Commons
London Recreations
The River
Astley's
Greenwich Fair
Private Theatres
Vauxhall Gardens by Day
Early Coaches
Omnibuses
The Last Cab-driver, and the First Omnibus cad
A Parliamentary Sketch
Public Dinners
The First of May
Brokers' and Marine-store Shops
Gin-shops
The Pawnbroker's Shop
Criminal Courts
A Visit to Newgate
Thoughts about People
A Christmas Dinner
The New Year
Miss Evans and the Eagle
The Parlour Orator
The Hospital Patient
The Misplaced attachment of Mr. John Dounce
The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition
The Dancing Academy
Shabby-Genteel People
Making a Night of It
The Prisoners' Van
Tales
The Boarding-house
Chapter the first
Chapter the second
Mr. Minns and his Cousin
Sentiment
The Tuggses at Ramsgate
Horatio Sparkins
The Black Veil
The Steam Excursion
The Great Winglebury Duel
Mrs. Joseph Porter
A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle
The Bloomsbury Christening
The Drunkard's death