Coffee-houses in London
- Reading the news in an eighteenth-century coffee house.
- From a print entitled The Coffee House drawn by H. Bunbury, engraved by W. Dickinson, published 12 May, 1794, by Laurie & Whittle.
(Bryant Lillywhite, London Coffee Houses)
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
- Coffee-house
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
- Coffee-house
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
"It is very natural for a Man who is not turned for Mirthful Meetings of men, or Assemblies of the fair Sex, to delight in that Sort of conversation which we find in Coffee-houses. Here a Man, of my Temper, is in his element; for, if he cannot talk, he can still be more agreeable to his Company, as well as pleased in himself, in being only an Hearer.
In the Place I most usually frequent, Men differ rather in the Time of Day in which they make a Figure, than in any real Greatness above one another. ...
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
... I, who am at the Coffee-house at Six in a Morning, know that my friend Beaver the haberdasher has a Levy of more undissembled Friends and Admirers, than most of the Courtiers or Generals of Great Britain.
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
Every man about him has, perhaps, a News Paper in his Hand...
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
... but none can pretend to guess what Step will be taken in any one Court of Europe, ’till Mr Beaver hath thrown down his Pipe, and declares what measures the Allies must enter into upon this new Posture of Affairs.
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
... Our Coffee-house is near one of the Inns of Courts, and Beaver has the Audience and Admiration of his neighbours from Six ’till within a Quarter of Eight, at which Time he is interrupted by the Students of the House; some of whom are ready dressed for Westminster, at Eight in a Morning, with faces as busie as if they were retain’d in every cause there...
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
...When the Day grows too busie for these Gentlemen to enjoy any longer the Pleasures of their Deshabilé, with any manner of Confidence, they give Place to Men who have Business or good Sense in their faces, and come to the Coffee-house either to transact Affairs or enjoy Conversation....
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
...The Coffee-house is the Place of Rendezvous to all that live near it, who are turned to relish calm and ordinary Life. Eubulus presides over the middle Houres of the day, when this Assembly of Men meet together.... Eubulus has so great an Authority in his little diurnal Audience, that when he shakes his Head at any Piece of Publick news, they all of them appear dejected; and on the contrary, go home to their Dinners with a good Stomach and cheerful Aspect, when Eubulus seems to instigate that Things go well....
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
... Having here given an Account of the several reigns that succeed each other from day-break ’till Dinner-time, I shall mention the monarchs of the afternoon on another occasion,...
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
- Anonymous, bodycolour, c. 1695,
Licensed by the Trustees of The British Museum.
[click on the picture to enlarge it]
... and shut up the whole Series of them with the History of Tom the Tyrant; who, as first minister of the Coffee-house, takes the Government upon him between the Hours of Eleven and Twelve at Night, and gives his Orders in the most Arbitrary Manner to the Servants below him, as to the Disposition of Liquors, Coals and Cinders."
Richard Steele, The Spectator, n°49, Thursday, April 26, 1711.
"This Stygian-Puddle-seller ...
When he comes to fill you a Dish, you may take him for Guy Faux with a dark Lanthern in’s hand, for no sooner can you taste it, but it scalds your throat, as if you had swallowed the Gunpowder-Treason"
Anonymous, The Character of a Coffee-House
“’Come,’ says my friend, ’let us step into this coffee-house here. As you are a stranger to the Town it will afford you some diversion. ... Do you mind yonder old sophister with an Indian pipe between his meagre jaws, who sits staring at the candle with as much steadfastness as a country passenger at Bow Steeple, or a child at a raree-show?’”
Ned Ward, The London Spy (1700)
St Mary-le-Bow behind St Paul’s is the church of Londoners (a true Londoner is said to be ’born within the sound of Bow bells“); this is why it seems strange to a”country passenger."
