Sketches by Boz Characters Chapter X - Shabby-Genteel People

In which the peculiar figure of the shabby-genteel man is delineated with a gentle eye, revealing a species quite peculiar to London, caught ceaselessly between faded respectability and visible destitution. This lonely creature, clad in threadbare finery and haunted by the semblance of former gentility, haunts the corners of reading-rooms and city streets alike, inspiring a most plaintive sympathy for his struggling pride.