The Immortal Dinner: A Famous Evening of Genius and Laughter in Literary London, 1817

Description

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party? This is the story of an infamous dinner in 1817 with John Keats, William Wordsworth and the essayist and wit Charles Lamb. Between Christmas and new year of 1817 the eccentric painter, B.R. Haydon, gave a famous dinner party. His guests included three of the greatest literary stars of the age- the poets John Keats and William Wordsworth and the essayist and wit Charles Lamb. They recited poetry, took part in ridiculous antics, indulged in high-minded discussions - with such displays of brilliance that the party became known as the Immortal Dinner. Penelope Hughes-Hallett celebrates this famous evening, setting it against a backdrop of change, reflected in the preoccupations of the illustrious diners. A compelling and sympathetic picture emerges of these rare spirits and the age which created them.

Penelope Hughes-Hallett was born in 1927 and spent her childhood at Steventon, Hampshire, where Jane Austen was brought up. Her books include 'My Dear Cassandra'- Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen and Home at Grasmere- The Wordsworths and the Lakes. She was a tutor and lecturer with the Open University, subsequently becoming one of its governors, a patron of the Wordsworth Trust and trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. She died in 2010.

A colourful portrait of a pivotal moment in England's cultural and social history * Observer * An absorbing account... a fascinating re-creation of an evening and a world * BBC History Magazine * A book of great charm... [lets] the reader feel that he is present at the memorable occassion * Independent on Sunday * Popular history at its most delicious * Economist * The biographical equivalent of the world in a grain of sand... an interesting and erudite account of a wonderful evening -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *