Claim profile
1700–1799

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇺🇸 United States🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇸🇪 Sweden🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇦🇹 Austria
FieldAllPoliticiansHistorical FiguresWritersScientistsMusiciansArtistsAcademicsArchitectsDoctorsReligious Figures
  1. 1John Singleton CopleyJohn Singleton Copley1738–1815 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists21 decades
  2. 2Benjamin WestBenjamin West1738–1820 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists22 decades
  3. 3Gilbert StuartGilbert Stuart1755–1828 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists22 decades
  4. 4John TrumbullJohn Trumbull1756–1843 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists22 decades
  5. 5Charles Willson PealeCharles Willson Peale1741–1827 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists13 decades
  6. 6Ralph EarlRalph Earl1751–1801 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists12 decades
  7. 7James PealeJames Peale1749–1831 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists5 decades
  8. 8Elizabeth Willing PowelElizabeth Willing Powel1743–1830 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  9. 9Mather BrownMather Brown1761–1831 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists1 decades
  10. 10HJHenrietta Johnston1674–1729 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists0 decades
  11. 11John SmibertJohn Smibert1688–1751 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  12. 12Patience WrightPatience Wright1725–1786 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  13. 13Matthew PrattMatthew Pratt1734–1805 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  14. 14John GreenwoodJohn Greenwood1727–1792 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  15. 15Edward SavageEdward Savage1761–1817 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  16. 16Robert FekeRobert Feke1705–1750 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  17. 17John HesseliusJohn Hesselius1728–1778 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  18. 18JTJeremiah Theus1716–1774 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  19. 19Henry BenbridgeHenry Benbridge1743–1812 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  20. 20William Russell BirchWilliam Russell Birch1755–1834 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  21. 21FGFrancis Guy1760–1820 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—
  22. 22Winthrop ChandlerWinthrop Chandler1747–1790 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artistsnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.