Literary lunch with Peter Ross
Thursday, 11 June 2026 - 13:00 until 15:00
Author: Peter Ross
Boo: Insatiable Appetites: Eating out in Georgian London
Bodleian Library is the Publisher
From dawn till past midnight, Londoners dined at taverns, coaching inns, oyster rooms, confectioners, coffee and chocolate houses, soup shops and dining rooms. For the poor, the streets bustled with vendors selling early versions of fast food. The rich and powerful dined in private splendour and at public banquets at City livery halls. After dark, sex workers and their clients indulged in a glass of jelly, then considered an aphrodisiac. As the empire expanded, new dishes were imported, including turtle soup, with live turtles from the West Indies, a particular favourite of the livery companies, while London’s first Indian takeaway appeared in 1773.
In the course of a single day, Peter Ross, former PrincipalLibrarian of the Guildhall, takes readers on a journey through breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper in Georgian London, drawing on contemporary archives to follow hungry citizens from all walks of life.
Cost: £35.00 - In-Person
To book your place: Email: dave Rosewell, Treasurer of the Livery Committee. dave.rosewell@icloud.com
