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Kit-Cat Club

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From: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Date: 20070301
Author:

Association of early 18th-century Whig leaders that met in London. Members included the writers Richard Steele , Joseph Addison , and William Congreve and such political figures as Robert Walpole and the duke of Marlborough . They first met in the tavern of Christopher Cat, whose mutton pies were called kit-cats. Portraits of the 42 members were painted by Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), and the specific size of the canvas (36 28 in. [91 71 cm]) used for the portraits became known as a kit-cat.

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