This image shows the largely empty interior of the lecture hall of the Islington Literary and Scientific Institution. It was built in 1837 and used for its original purpose until the society wound up in 1874. It is now used by the Almeida Theatre.

Many such Literary and Scientific Institutions were founded and thrived in the late 18th and early 19th century, usually supporting lecture series and a library or museum. The audiences tended to be largely middle class and leisured and thus Mechanics' Institutes were also founded to offer educational opportunities to members of the working class. Scientific subjects always featured and may have been particularly important at Islington, where the President, Charles Woodward, was a Fellow of the Royal Society.