Pope and His Villa

More images were created of the exterior Alexander Pope’s Thameside villa than of any other private residence in the eighteenth century. It was an icon of his work as a classicist, poet and satirist and a gathering place for those opposed to Robert Walpole’s government. Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Lord Bolingbroke and Voltaire counted among his guests. After his death, his home and garden attracted so many visitors that a later owner razed the villa to the ground in order to preserve her privacy. This talk will consider what the villa meant to Pope himself and attempt to recreate what it might have been like for him to live and work there, surrounded by reminders of his friendships and cultural influences.

Judith Hawley is Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has published on numerous eighteenth-century subjects and appears frequently on radio and TV sharing her interests in eighteenth-century culture with a wider audience. She is a Trustee of the Pope’s Grotto Preservation Trust.