“At Neufchatel [Jean-Jacques Rousseau] was painted by Allan Ramsey wearing an Armenian robe, a sort of kaftan. He even wore it to church. The locals objected at first but soon got used to it and in time it became a Rousseau hallmark. During his celebrated visit to England he wore it at the Drury Lane Theatre, and was so anxious to respond to the plaudits of the crowd that Mrs Garrick had to hang onto the robe to prevent him falling out of the box.”
—Paul Johnson, Intellectuals
Rousseau was such a weird guy. Cf. Rousseau's Dog for a great account of his infamous falling out with Hume, one of the more entertaining episodes of the Enlightenment.
Posted by: rich at August 5, 2006 04:52 PM