This site is a modest attempt to gather links to online resources which concern the long 18thc. There are a number of excellent places where one can find academic or other resources, but none, as far as I know, which focus on quite this range of online resources, from small weblogs to large projects.

The coffeehouse, of course, was largely a masculine preserve. Women ruled, at a somewhat later period, over the salons. But the coffeehouse, that a hub for the exchange of information, is a more suitable metaphor for a project such as this one, and so, with suitable modification, that venerable institution provides the title of this site.

The connection between the eighteenth-century coffeehouse and the internet is not a new one; Economist.com published "The internet in a cup" on Dec 18th 2003. The connection — the possibilities for exchange and interaction — have only become more apparent in the intervening years.

So come in. Peep in the door, or come in and sit down. Sip, or drink deeply. Here's hoping you find something to interest you. And perhaps you will leave something in exchange. That was, after all, one of the basic functions of the coffeehouse.