Kit-Cat Club
a society formed in London about 1700, consisting of 39 noblemen and gentlemen favorable to the succession of the House of Hanover, and whose ostensible object was the encouragement of literature and the fine arts. Jacob Tonson, an eminent publisher, was founder and secretary; and, not to mention dukes and ea earls, it included Sir Robert Walpole, Vanbrugh, Congreve, Addison, Steele, and Garth. Before the club was dissolved (about 1720) each of the members presented to Tonson his half-length portrait, painted a uniform size, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Hence the term is now applied generally to any portrait of kit-cat size-i. e., about 36 inches long by 28 or 29 wide.