Francis Dashwood [ Association / Associational culture ]
… nominal qualification is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk’. 12 There is little doubt that convivial drinking was involved in the gatherings of the Dilettanti, as well as lavish expenditures, such as on a ‘mahogany … friendship with the Abbé Niccolini weakens such assertions. Fragments of Medmenham’s cellar-books do hint at ample drinking, 17 and at least some clues indicate the presence of women and sex. Moreover, they seem to have held readings …
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