Doré was commissioned to create the illustrations by the publisher Grant and Company, receiving an advance of £10,000 for each of the four projected years of work. His contract required the Paris-based artist to visit London for 3 months each year, and make 250 drawings. The author and artist spent days touring the city together, often accompanied by plan clothes policemen. Jerrold led his friend Doré through the "shadows and sunlight of the great world of London". His 250 pen and ink drawings, often with dramatic chiaroscuro, were engraved on wood by a team that included Paul Jonnard,