lloyd's books
Preserved but no longer current.
Two enormous ledger-like volumes, placed on desks at the entrance (right and left) of Lloyd's Rooms. They give the principal arrivals, and all losses by wrecks, fire, or other accidents at sea. The entries are written in a fine, bold Roman hand, legible to all.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “lloyd's books” mean?
Two enormous ledger-like volumes, placed on desks at the entrance (right and left) of Lloyd's Rooms. They give the principal arrivals, and all losses by wrecks, fire, or other accidents at sea. The entries are written in a fine, bold Roman hand, legible to all.
Is “lloyd's books” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.