DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1041#0214
History of the Society of Dilettanti 193
house next door, hitherto occupied by the Albion
Club, taking the name of the Thatched House
with him. There, in the new Thatched House
Tavern, the Society was lodged for nearly a score
more years until 1861, when Mr. Willis disposed
of these premises, and the Society was obliged to
move elsewhere. A proposal made in i860 that
a large room should be rented from the Bank of
England in Burlington Street at ^ioo a year was
negatived on account of expense. As Mr. Willis was
able to provide at his other premises in King Street,
St. James's, a room suitable for the meetings of the
Dilettanti, their pictures and other effects were there-
fore transported thither. These premises, formerly
famous asc Almack's,' and by this time only less famous
as < Willis's,' continued to be the meeting-place of the
Society, as of so many other of the chief dining societies
and clubs of London, until they were finally closed
in 18 89. The premises then, through the foreclosure
of a mortgage, passed into the hands of the executors
of Lady Willoughby d'Eresby; they have since been
reconstructed, and are divided, as readers are aware,
between a new restaurant bearing the old name and
the auction-rooms of Messrs. Robinson and Fisher.
During the first part of what may be called the state oftke
Willis's Rooms period of the Society's history, Socwt7'
the management of its affairs remained in the hands
of Sir Edward Ryan (acting Secretary 185-9—63,
Secretary 1863-7/) j during the second part,
1876—88, in those of his successor, Sir W. F.
(known as Sir Frederick) Pollock. Owing to
causes to be mentioned later, the old energetic lead
taken by the Dilettanti in the promotion and publi-
cation of classical researches had by this time to
a great extent passed out of their hands. Neverthe-
house next door, hitherto occupied by the Albion
Club, taking the name of the Thatched House
with him. There, in the new Thatched House
Tavern, the Society was lodged for nearly a score
more years until 1861, when Mr. Willis disposed
of these premises, and the Society was obliged to
move elsewhere. A proposal made in i860 that
a large room should be rented from the Bank of
England in Burlington Street at ^ioo a year was
negatived on account of expense. As Mr. Willis was
able to provide at his other premises in King Street,
St. James's, a room suitable for the meetings of the
Dilettanti, their pictures and other effects were there-
fore transported thither. These premises, formerly
famous asc Almack's,' and by this time only less famous
as < Willis's,' continued to be the meeting-place of the
Society, as of so many other of the chief dining societies
and clubs of London, until they were finally closed
in 18 89. The premises then, through the foreclosure
of a mortgage, passed into the hands of the executors
of Lady Willoughby d'Eresby; they have since been
reconstructed, and are divided, as readers are aware,
between a new restaurant bearing the old name and
the auction-rooms of Messrs. Robinson and Fisher.
During the first part of what may be called the state oftke
Willis's Rooms period of the Society's history, Socwt7'
the management of its affairs remained in the hands
of Sir Edward Ryan (acting Secretary 185-9—63,
Secretary 1863-7/) j during the second part,
1876—88, in those of his successor, Sir W. F.
(known as Sir Frederick) Pollock. Owing to
causes to be mentioned later, the old energetic lead
taken by the Dilettanti in the promotion and publi-
cation of classical researches had by this time to
a great extent passed out of their hands. Neverthe-