England in the Age of Hogarth

by Derek Jarrett

Widely acclaimed when first published, this lively social history of Hogarth's England is now reissued in paperbound with a new preface and updated bibliography and notes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

213 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Lauren Albert]

A solid general review of the culture during the age of Hogarth. Now, I wasn't thinking when I grabbed the book off the shelf (pretty randomly) but if I'd thought about it I would have realized how much it overlapped with the book I'd just finished "The Making of the English Working Class." But there was still a bit of a feeling of synchronicity when I came across the same quote in both books: "Everyone but an idiot knows that the lower class must be kept poor or they will never be industrious." Arthur Young

My one negative is his own negativity regarding the English. Hopefully it is aimed only at Englishmen of the period. Here are two quotes:

"Englishmen were proud of their freedom to inflict on one another the barbarities which were, in less enlightened countries, the prerogative of a despotic government." 53

"The English seemed to have a genius for enjoying themselves in ways that were violent, cruel, destructive or uncouth, while being profoundly bored by more elegant and properly organized pleasures." 151

[Noel Mcgivern]

The art of Hogarth is used an an excellent focus for a survey of life in 18th century England. This book is particularly good on the lives of the poor and social and religious attitudes.