The first Bohemians : Life and art in London's golden age

Part I Covent Garden -- 1 A Sense of Place -- 2 A Low and Turbulent People -- 3 Harlots -- Part II Artists -- 4 The First Bohemians -- 5 The Men's World -- 6 Real Life -- 7 Hogarth and Low Life -- 8 Rowlandson's London -- 9 The Gordon Riots: An Ending -- 10 Turner, Ruskin and Covent Garden: An Aftermath.;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.