The Life of William Hogarth London, 1697. The air in Bartholomew Close is thick with the sounds of a growing metropolis. Here, William Hogarth enters a world of precarious stability. His father, Richard Hogarth, struggles to make a living as a Latin schoolmaster and textbook writer. The family's finances fluctuate; at one point, Richard faces the harsh reality of imprisonment for debt in the Fleet Prison. This early exposure to the instability of urban life leaves a mark. William Hogarth grows up watching the gap between the social classes, a perspective that will eventually define his caree…