all gentlemen to whom beds are
unknown"; the TURK'S HEAD, 'Change Alley, which also had its tokens; the
TURK'S HEAD, in the Strand, which was a favorite supping house for Dr.
Johnson and Boswell; the FOLLY, a coffee house on a house-boat on the
Thames, which became quite notorious during Queen Anne's reign.

[Illustration: THE FRENCH COFFEE HOUSE IN LONDON, SECOND HALF OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

From the original water-color drawing by Thomas Rowlandson]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: RAMPONAUX' ROYAL DRUMMER, ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR OF THE
EARLY PARISIAN CAFES

Started originally as a tavern, this hostelry added coffee to its
cuisine and became famous in the reign of Louis XV The illustration is
from an early print used to advertise the "Royal Drummer's" attractions]

CHAPTER XI

HISTORY OF THE EARLY PARISIAN COFFEE HOUSES

_The introduction of coffee into Paris by Thevenot in 1657--How
Soliman Aga established the custom of coffee drinking at the court
of Louis XIV--Opening the first coffee houses--How the French
adaptation of the Oriental coffee house first appeared in the real
French cafe of Francois Procope--The important part played by the
coffee houses in the development of French literature and the
stage--Their association with the Revolution and the founding of
the Republic--Quaint customs and patrons--Historic Parisian cafes_

If we are to accept the authority of Jean La Roque, "before the year
1669 coffee had scarcely been seen in Paris, except at M. Thevenot's and
at the homes of some of his friends. Nor had it been heard of except in
the writings of travelers."

As noted in chapter V, Jean de Thevenot brought coffee into Paris in
1657. One account says that a decoction, supposed to have been coffee,
was sold by a Levantine in the Petit Chatelet under the name of _cohove_
or _cahoue_ during the reign of Louis XIII, but this lacks confirmation.
Louis XIV is said to have been served with coffee for the first time in
1664.

Soon after the arrival, in July, 1669, of the Turkish ambassador,
Soliman Aga, it became noised abroad that he had brought with him for
his own use, and that of his retinue, great quantities of coffee. He
"treated several persons with it, both in the court and the city." At
length "many accustomed themselves to it with sugar, and others who
found benefit by it could not leave it off."

Within six months all Paris was talking of