London's Libertine Women: Sex and the City

Talk - Julie Peakman Thursday 13 February 2025

6pm - 8pm

£15 (booking fee)

Join Dr Julie Peakman for an evening exploring London's libertine women – sex, scandal, and power at Dr Johnson's House!

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If you are interested in women and London and sex, then this is the event for you!

Join historian and author Dr Julie Peakman for a fascinating exploration of the trials and tribulations of women in 18th-century London who were labelled 'libertine' because of their sexual behaviour. You will hear about the experiences of women, whether mistresses, adulteresses or those involved in the sex trade. From renowned courtesans to downtrodden streetwalkers, she examines the multifaceted lives of these women within brothels, on stage and even behind bars.

Julie Peakman looks at sex from women's points of view, undercutting the traditional image of the bawdy 18th century to expose a more sordid side, of women left distressed, ostracized and vilified for their sexual behaviour. Her latest book, Libertine London: Sex in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis, investigates the sex lives of women from 1680 to 1830, the period known as the 'long eighteenth century'. Copies will be available to buy at the event.

Ticket includes wine, an evening viewing of the House and a book signing. Get a copy on the night of Peakman's book: Libertine London - Special Offer: 10% off Libertine London

Julie Peakman

Julie Peakman is an author and historian of eighteenth-century culture and an expert in the history of sexuality, erotica and pornography. She is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Honorary Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is a frequent contributor to journals, magazines and broadcasters working on television documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, BBC History Xtra, Sky and the Biography Channel. Her books include Licentious Worlds. Sex & Exploitation in Global Empires; Amatory Pleasures, Exploration in Eighteenth-Century Sexual Culture (2016); The Pleasure’s All Mine. A History of Perverse Sex (2013); Lascivious Bodies: A Sexual History of the Eighteenth Century (2004) and Mighty Lewd Books: The Development of Pornography in Eighteenth-Century England (2003).

Accessibility

There is regrettably no step-free access to Dr Johnson's House.

There are seven steps to access the entrance (with a handrail).

The building is a four-storey townhouse with a staircase between each floor.

There are handrails on each side of the staircase and visitor seating in every room.

Toilets are located down a steep set of stairs.