← Fame through time1700-1799
The 18th century
Whose working lives fell in the 18th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 18th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Thomas Gainsborough18 decades - 2
Joshua Reynolds22 decades - 3
George Stubbs13 decades - 4
James Gillray7 decades - 5
George Romney20 decades - 6
John Flaxman Jr.not measured- - 7
William Beechey13 decades - 8
John Hoppner5 decades - 9
Anne Seymour Damer1 decades - 10
Richard Cosway8 decades - 11
George Morland17 decades - 12
Nathaniel Dance-Holland0 decades - 13Isaac Cruikshanknot measured-
- 14
John Robert Cozens0 decades - 15
Joseph Highmore0 decades - 16
Thomas Daniellnot measured- - 17
Elizabeth Simcoenot measured- - 18
Henry Bonenot measured- - 19
Thomas Stothardnot measured- - 20
John Hamilton Mortimernot measured- - 21
Joseph Nollekensnot measured- - 22
Charles Howard Hodgesnot measured- - 23
Francis Wheatleynot measured- - 24
William Billingsleynot measured- - 25
Peter Monamynot measured- - 26
Thomas Smithnot measured- - 27William Parsnot measured-
- 28
John Smartnot measured- - 29
Jacob Morenot measured- - 30
Thomas Fryenot measured- - 31
George Moutard Woodwardnot measured- - 32
Alexander Runcimannot measured- - 33
John Ingleby1 decades - 34
George Garrardnot measured- - 35
Robert Bowyernot measured- - 36John Shackletonnot measured-
- 37Samuel Davisnot measured-
- 38
Samuel Shelleynot measured- - 39
Bernard Lens IIInot measured- - 40
John Theodore Heinsnot measured- - 41
Jonathan Richardson the youngernot measured- - 42
William Artaudnot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.