eighteenth century

Dr Sex and The Electric Love Bed

James Brown, medical reformer, with James Graham just visible in a white suit in the background by John Kay 1786, National Portrait...

Merlin and the Silver Swan

The Silver Swan, 1774, created by John Joseph Merlin and James Cox. The eighteenth century was a time of magic and mystery despite – or...

The Beast of Gevaudan: the Napoleon Bonaparte of Wolves*

The Beast of Gévaudan Max Von Sydow in The Wolfman, 2010, Copyright Universal Pictures I first came across the legend of the Beast of...

Chevalier d’Éon: Soldier, Spy and Transvestite

In June 2012 the National Gallery revealed its new acquisition. Discovered by the London dealer, Philip Mould at a provincial sale in a...

Wicked Jimmy Lowther: The Toadstool Earl

Vincent Price, from Tales of Terror (Dir.Roger Corman 1962) When I first found out about Wicked Jimmy, otherwise known as Sir James...

The Real Barry Lyndon – Stoney Bowes, a Georgian Sociopath

The Infamous Life of Stoney Bowes Andrew Robinson Bowes, MP, by John Downman 1781 (Fitzwilliam Museum Cambs) The tale of Andrew Robinson...