2-714-156 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Thomas Cooke, the notorious Islington Miser', 1822. Portrait of Cooke (c1725-1811) who is said to have chased away a doctor who had given him six days to live: 'Why, sir, you are no better than a pickpocket, to rob me of my gold, by sending two draughts a-day to a man that all your physic will not keep alive above six days ! Get out of my house, and never come near me again.' From "Wonderful Characters: Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation", Vol. III, by Henry Wilson. [J. Robins and Co. Albion Press, London, 1821]