Several comprehensive publications have been issued recently on the environmental pollution of past times, especially from medieval times (e.g. Brimblecombe, 1987a; Goldstein, 1988; Brimblecombe and Pfister, 1990; Hughes, 1993; Markham, 1994; Brimblecombe, 1995). The aim of this paper is to give an overview of information on the subject – mainly related to the period between medieval times and the 19th century. Keywords: air quality, control of air pollution, effect of pollutants, fog in literature and the fine arts, London Great Smog, smoke inspection. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Brimblecombe, P. and Makra, L. (2005) 'Selections from the history of environmental pollution, with special attention to air pollution. Part 2: From medieval times to the 19th century', Int.