Almack’s was the heart of London’s social scene, the club everyone aspired to enter. Its patronesses controlled the guest list with formidable precision. At the beginning of our Rational Creatures shoot, you’ll find "The Witches," the late eighteenth-century patronesses. By the early nineteenth century, these women had long retired, replaced around the publication of Pride and Prejudice by a new coterie: Lady Sarah Jersey, Countess Cowper, and Princess Esterházy.

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The Rational Creatures shoot features thirteen society women, three successful actresses, two authors, and a host of nuns. For the final image in this set, we juxtaposed society figures with academically accomplished women of the period. Thus, the explanation here is only half the story—the remainder can be explored in "Rational Creatures on the Wall," linked below.