First Bohemians

From the Economist ‘s review of Vic Gatrell’s The First Bohemians: Life and Art in London’s Golden Age , the book sounds like a colorful read. Gatrell focuses on 18th-century London and finds it a merry old place:

“At general elections in Westminster hecklers threw dead or living cats at politicians. ‘Mohocks,’ aristocratic hoodlums, prowled London’s streets, breaking windows and assaulting bystanders. Theatrical performances sometimes turned into riots, while theatre boxes were more likely to be full of boisterous punters than aesthetes concentrating on the performance. By the end of the century around 3,000 Londoners died of venereal diseases annually. In the 1740s the average annual consumption of gin exceeded six gallons per person.”

Now those were the days.