Sex, Time and Place: Queer Histories of London, c.1850 to the Present Paperback – April 19, 2018
by Simon Avery and Katherine M. Graham
Queer Places:
Cannibal Club C/O Bertolini’s, 32 St Martin's Ln, Charing Cross, London WC2N 4ER, UK
The Cannibal Club was an exclusive, provocative social and dining club founded in London in 1863 by Sir Richard Francis Burton and Dr. James Hunt. It was closely associated with the Anthropological Society of London. The club functioned as a "hush-hush" venue for a circle of intellectuals, radicals, and non-conformists. It provided a space to discuss topics considered taboo in Victorian society, including anthropology, human sexuality, and colonial politics. Members were known for their interest in fringe science, including phrenology and polygenism (the theory that human races have different origins). Historians often characterize the club as a site for venting against mainstream societal norms and as a space where members—many of whom were prominent figures—could express unconventional or subversive views. The club’s official symbol was a mace featuring an African head gnawing on a human thighbone. They also maintained a "Cannibal Catechism," a satirical anthem penned by poet Algernon Charles Swinburne that mocked the Christian Eucharist. The group included notable figures like Richard Monckton Milnes, Charles Bradlaugh, and Algernon Swinburne. The club declined after the death of Dr. James Hunt and held its final meeting in 1871.
Known members:
Algernon Charles Swinburne, "Poet; author of the club's ""Cannibal Catechism""", Bedford Pim, Naval officer and explorer, Charles Bradlaugh, Political activist and prominent atheist, Charles Carter Blake, Anthropologist and assistant secretary of the ASL, Charles Duncan Cameron, British consul; explorer, Dunbar Isidore Heath, Egyptologist and clergyman, Edward Sellon, English writer, translator, and illustrator of erotic literature, Frederick Hankey, an English banker and Conservative politician, Henry Spencer Ashbee, a book collector, writer and bibliographer, J. Frederick Collingwood, the assistant secretary of the Anthropological Society, James Campbell Reddie, a collector and author of pornography, Dr. James Hunt, Co-founder; founder of the Anthropological Society of London, Sir James Plaisted Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance, Judge and jurist, Sir Richard Francis Burton,"Co-founder; famous explorer, orientalist, and translator", Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, Poet, patron of the arts, and collector of erotica", Richard Stephen Charnock, Anthropologist and linguist, Simeon Solomon, an English painter, General Studholme John Hodgson, British Army officer, Thomas Bendyshe, Anthropologist and translator.
References:
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Sex, Time and Place: Queer Histories of London, c.1850 to the Present Paperback – April 19, 2018 by Simon Avery and Katherine M. Graham |
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