The first Bohemians : life and art in London's golden age
(Book)

Originally published: London: Allen Lane, 2013.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 419-460) and index.

In the teeming, disordered, and sexually charged square half-mile centered on London's Covent Garden something extraordinary evolved in the 18th century. It was the world's first creative 'Bohemia'. The nation's most significant artists, actors, poets, novelists, and dramatists lived here. Vic Gatrell recreates this time and place by drawing on a vast range of sources, showing the deepening fascination with 'real life' that resulted in the work of artists like Hogarth, Blake, and Rowlandson, or in great literary works like The Beg.