Georgian Harlots & Whores: Fame, Fashion & Fortune

by Mike Rendell

Overview

This book will look at the phenomenon of celebrity hookers in the eighteenth century – all of them the subject of extraordinary press scrutiny and comment. They were the fashion icons of the age, and what they wore was copied and put on sale in the high street within days. Many of them were passed around within the same small circle of aristocratic lovers. 

They were the object of constant gossip and whether they were flaunting their fame by taking a box at the opera for the entire season, or by parading through Hyde Park in a phaeton pulled by matching cream ponies, or returning from Paris wearing the very latest fashions, they enjoyed a celebrity status nowadays bestowed on TV reality stars and footballers’ wives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526791030
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	07/07/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	278,877
File size:	78 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Mike Rendell has written many books, all of them about Georgian England. His interest in the period was inspired by a fascinating cache of papers left by his 18th century ancestors. His other books with Pen & Sword include ‘In Bed with the Georgians: Sex, Scandal and Satire in the 18th Century’, ‘Trailblazing Women of the Georgian Era’ and 'Pirates & Privateers in the 18th Century: The Final Flourish'.When not writing, he spends his time talking on Georgian topics both in Britain and abroad, and in particular on board cruise ships. He travels extensively but his home is on the edge of Dartmoor.

Table of Contents

Preface viii

Part I Components of Celebrity - Then and Now 1

Chapter 1 The Press: Newspapers, Magazines and Gossip Columns 5

Chapter 2 Portraits and Prints 12

Chapter 3 Meeting Places - Theatres, Gardens and Watering Holes 20

Chapter 4 The Importance of Fashion 28

Chapter 5 The Cyprian Corps 32

Part II Toasts of the Town 39

Chapter 6 Fanny Murray 41

Chapter 7 Nancy Parsons 56

Chapter 8 Kitty Fisher 66

Chapter 9 Frances Abington 85

Chapter 10 Gertrude Mahon 100

Chapter 11 Mary Robinson 113

Chapter 12 Elizabeth Armistead 149

Epilogue 172

Bibliography 179

Credits and Acknowledgements 182