Button's coffee house
Button's Coffee-house was the successor to Will's Coffee-house, London's leading literary café in the early 18th century.
Button's Coffee-house on Russell Street in Covent Garden was founded around 1713 largely at the instigation of the writer and journalist Joseph Addison . The owner, Daniel Button, had previously been a servant to the Countess of Warwick - Addison's wife. To get the café through, Addison started a campaign with Richard Steele in The Guardian newspaper , which culminated in Addison having a letterbox decorated with a lion's head installed in the restaurant. Addison explained the purpose of the facility as follows: “Whatever the lion swallows, I will digest for the benefit of the public.” Soon after this event, Button's became the main meeting place for London's writers and journalists.
By the middle of the 18th century at the latest, Button's Coffee-house was replaced as the most important meeting place for writers by the Bedford Coffee-house .
Known guests
- Joseph Addison
- Alexander Pope
- Richard Steele
- Jonathan Swift