Madeleine Pelling

Lord Byron in repose after having swum the Hellespont, by William Allan, 1831.

Modern Times

How did those living in an age of enlightenment see themselves?

Christie's Auction Rooms, from 'The Microcosm of London', published by Rudolph Ackermann, 1808.

Lives Laid Bare: Celebrity, Death and the Georgian Auction

Auctions, presided over by charismatic storytelling showmen, became social events in the 18th century, where middle-class Georgians could pick over the possessions of the dead and see close up the tactile relics of celebrity.