Vauxhall Road and the Elixir of Life ( was The Diary (just where did V get it)

[linocow2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 86703

bboy_mn: 
<snip>
< In any event, both UK and US books seem to indicate that the
> > name on the back and reference to Vauxhall Rd represent the store 
> and  not the publisher.>
> 
now me:
 
I've been following this thread with interested,  especially as, like
Geoff, I am 
familiar with this area of London. I earlier suggested a possible
reference by 
JK to the HQ of Random House, but remembered subsequently that this
is on 
Vauxhall BRIDGE Road, rather than Vauxhall Road. I was then prompted
to 
search for "Vauxhall Road"  on Google and straight away found...

http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/49.html
  
 "The Ruined house in the Vauxhall Road ", an illustration  by Phiz
from 1844
[picture of house looking rather like one would imagine Godric's 
Hollow after the Harry-Voldy confrontation]

it is an illustration for, wait for it:

William Harrison Ainsworth's Auriol or The Elixir 
of Life  (London: George Routledge and Sons, n. d.), !!!!!!
 
[Phiz was a prominent Victorian illustrator, mainly known today 
for his  illustrations for Dickens]
 
According to Victorian web - 
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ainsworth/bio.html - Ainsworth
was "king 
of the historical potboiler".  (Interestingly, his many novels
include 
"Rookwood").
  
 Have no time to research this further now, as am meant to be
working, 
thought  would post this as seems indeed to lend weight to theories 
about  the significance of Vauxhall Road...

Linocow