London Clubs: Their History & Treasures

The volume traces how informal taverns and coffee-houses developed into exclusive subscription clubs and eventually into large, well-appointed clubhouses. It surveys many London institutions—political, sporting, military, university, artistic and social—detailing their origins, interiors, badges, ceremonies, rules, elections and membership practices. Anecdotes and illustrations evoke vanished meeting-places and curious past societies, while focused chapters examine changing club-life, dining, card-playing, late sittings, fines and the distinctive character of particular clubs from the St. James’s quarter to the Jockey and Yacht clubs.