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|title=The Immortal Dinner: A famous evening of genius and laughter in literary London, 1817

|sort=Immortal Dinner: A famous evening of genius and laughter in literary London, 1817

|borrow=Yes

|isbn=9780099563723

|pages=336

|publisher=Vintage

|date=May 2012

|summary=A vivid account of the dinner thrown by painter Benjamin Robert Haydon in December 1817 at his London lodgings, for guests including Wordsworth, Keats and Lamb - an interesting cultural gathering at a time of great social upheaval.

}}

A book based around just one dinner sounds a little extraordinary. But the host, painter Benjamin Robert Haydon, was no ordinary artist. He was a friend of many of the major artistic and literary figures of the day, in addition to being an ambitious painter of historical scenes. Sadly, his ambition was not matched by popularity or good fortune, and despite or perhaps parly because an exaggerated belief in his own abilities, one and a half centuries after his death he is largely forgotten except for his suicide after years of despair, and perhaps his diary as well.

If this appeals then we're sure that you might enjoy [[Words and Pictures: Writers, Artists and a Peculiarly British Tradition by Jenny Uglow]].

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