“Characters Who Frequented Button’s Coffee-House About the Year 1720”, an aquatint by Sam Ireland after William Hogarth, ca. 1720. The figure in the cloak is Count Viviani; of the figures facing the reader the draughts player is Dr Arbuthnot, and the figure standing is assumed to be Pope.
Featured on PDR in the essay The Lost World of the London Coffeehouse
In contrast to today's rather mundane spawn of coffeehouse chains, the London of the 17th and 18th century was home to an eclectic and thriving coffee drinking scene. Matthew Green explores the halcyon days of the London coffeehouse, a haven for caffeine-fueled debate and innovation which helped to shape the modern world.
Also appearing in the essay…
Other works by the artists in the archive…
Characters Who Frequented Button’s Coffee-House About the Year 1720
Artist
Date
ca. 1720
