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| October 17, 1745 |
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| Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) |
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The Gifts of Jonathan Swift
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| by Steve King |
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In the 1700s, most London gentlemen made a daily visit to their coffee house, but not for coffee. These were places to read, bet and gossip; clubby, sexist places (women took tea at India houses) where a man could receive sensitive letters, exchange confidences and network his way to power. If you were a "wit" -- or, like Jonathan Swift in 1703, had hopes of being one -- you would want a chair at Button's coffee-house, where the famous Joseph Addison was star, and star-maker.
Alexander Pope famously defined "true wit" as "What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed." Swift would later add a caution ... FULL STORY »
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— SK |
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The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
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