Cadenus & Swift's Most Valuable Friend: Two Books On Jonathan Swift

by Sybil Le Brocquy, Louis le Brocquy (Illustrator), Andrew Carpenter (Introduction)

These books are being reissued as they appeared in the first Dolmen Press editions in one composite volume, with an invaluable, contextual introduction by eighteenth-century Swift scholar Andrew Carpenter. He assesses the reaction of Swift's serious biographers and commentators to the original publications: '... two remarkable books, driven by sympathetic and intuitive enquiry, which made an important contribution to Swift studies when they appeared in the 1960s and which still remain significant for all those interested in Swift's life and works'.

Cadenus is primarily concerned with the relationship between Swift and Vanessa (Esther Van Homrigh), Swift's Most Valuable Friend with that between Swift and Stella (Esther Johnson). Both help to determine the precise nature of this triangle, and the impact it had on his writing and career.

This title is also available in hardback for 40 euro.



SYBIL LE BROCQUY (1892-1973), Irish playwright, conservationist and mother of the painter Louis le Brocquy, was immersed in the arts and an acknowledged expert on the life and work of Jonathan Swift. During her lifetime she wrote four books on Swift, published by Liam Miller's Dolmen Press.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003