Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a famous London club that is mostly made up of actors , writers and other artists , but also to some extent members of the legal profession .
It was founded in 1831 under the leadership of Duke Augustus Frederick , a brother of King William IV. The club owes its name to David Garrick , the leading British mime of the 18th century. In keeping with its goals, the clubhouse is located at 13-15 Garrick Street, a little away from the actual “clubland” around Pall Mall , and closer to the London theater district around Covent Garden .
The strictness of the admission criteria is expressed in the stipulation “It would be better that ten unobjectionable men should be excluded than one terrible bore should be admitted”. The most famous members included a. the writers Charles Dickens , William Makepeace Thackeray , George Meredith , the actor Henry Irving , the composer Edward Elgar and painters such as Frederic Leighton and Dante Gabriel Rossetti .
The club is also known for its art and theater science collections comprising over 1000 exhibits, as well as for its specialist library.