Coffee-table book on London's gentlemen's clubs

[andreyb]

Gentlemen,

May I ask you to suggest me a coffe-table book on London's gentlemen's clubs?

Something like Roetzel's "Gentleman", but on clubs.

Andrey

[storeynicholas]

I believe that Marcelo has the succint answer to this ;however, some clubs have had books written about them individually - White's has one, which may be bought from the club itself; needless to say - no website!
NJS

[marcelo]

The only book I know of on this subject matter is LeJeune’s The Gentlemen's Clubs of London.

http://www.amazon.com/Gentlemens-Clubs- ... 490&sr=1-2

Most of the plates are b&w and, as a matter of course, showing either empty rooms or, at most, personal staff.

[Bishop of Briggs]

The only book I know of on this subject matter is LeJeune’s The Gentlemen's Clubs of London.

http://www.amazon.com/Gentlemens-Clubs- ... 490&sr=1-2

Most of the plates are b&w and, as a matter of course, showing either empty rooms or, at most, personal staff.

That book is very expensive! Clubs, naturally, change over the years so it will be out of date. There is, as Audrey suggests, an opportunity for a new guide. The main obstacle is being to assess the various clubs, often with their own formal and social membership restrictions, over a reasonable period.

I have been a guest at many of the clubs in St James, the exceptions being the snobbish clubs such as Whites. My favourites are the Reform and East India. The latter is always busy, a good sign, with plenty of young members too. The Carlton lacks a clubby atmosphere. The Oxford & Cambridge is rather dull too. The Travellers has a reputation of being a gay club. There are, of course, more clubs in Mayfair. Such a book would be real challenge to research and write.

[storeynicholas]

The only book I know of on this subject matter is LeJeune’s The Gentlemen's Clubs of London.

http://www.amazon.com/Gentlemens-Clubs- ... 490&sr=1-2

The Carlton lacks a clubby atmosphere. The Oxford & Cambridge is rather dull too. The Travellers has a reputation of being a gay club. .

My oldest friend, for some time a member of the Carlton, recently also joined the Travellers'; presumably, in search of the camaraderie and lightheartedness which has been noted, above, to be so conspicuously absent from the Carlton.
NJS

[marcelo]

That book is very expensive! Clubs, naturally, change over the years so it will be out of date.

This book is rather expensive, but a second hand examplar is available for 28£ at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... 816&sr=8-1

Old, indeed, but being out of date sounds as a sort of oxymoron in this case, as in most cases relating to the prospects of leading an Elegant Life. If one is interested in understanding the history of such a traditional institution as gentlemen's clubs rather than joining one, being out of date will matter as a further evidence for the way this institution has historically evolved throughout time.

Last year The Spectator published an interesting, though rather sarcastic article on gentlemen’s clubs. The relevant link is the following:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/i/archive/st ... ember+2007.

[marcelo]

Something like Roetzel's "Gentleman", but on clubs. Andrey

Bernhard Roetzel has a further book, co-authored with Cluadia Piras, entitled British Style: Wohnen, Kultur, Lebensart. It is lavishly illustrated and I am quite sure there is an English translation of it. In the German edition, there is a two-page chapter about the gentlemen's clubs of London (p. 314-315).