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A Tale of a Tub and the Battle of the Books
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
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British Library
T049836
Anonymous. By Jonathan Swift.
London: printed for Charles Bathurst, 1739. [24],220p., plates; 12�
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
British Library
T049836
Anonymous. By Jonathan Swift.
London: printed for Charles Bathurst, 1739. [24],220p., plates; 12�
205 pages, Hardcover
28 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Swift
5,008 books2,156 followersJonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2020
This thing is actually hilarious. Thankful for the teacher who made it comprehensible.
September 3, 2018
Published in 1704, but apparently written earlier. I found the main parody, "A Tale of a Tub," in this collection impressively complex. The main narrative parodying branches of Christianity and their justifications for changing is interesting, but the Digressions are the best part. Great stuff that holds up today about looking for deeper meanings in texts. I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff here, but I did find some quotes I really enjoyed:
Discussing the ancients, who are only admired by "men in a corner, who have the unhappiness of conversing too little with present things."
"We of this age have discovered a shorter and more prudent method to become scholars and wits without the fatigue of reading or of thinking."
As for the other satires in this collection, I thought "The Battle of the Books" was a great idea, but one I would have enjoyed more if I was more familiar with the various authors from all ages that Swift satirizes.
The copy I had also included "A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit," a good, but somewhat light weight, satire on forced religious ecstasy and contrived devotion.
Discussing the ancients, who are only admired by "men in a corner, who have the unhappiness of conversing too little with present things."
"We of this age have discovered a shorter and more prudent method to become scholars and wits without the fatigue of reading or of thinking."
As for the other satires in this collection, I thought "The Battle of the Books" was a great idea, but one I would have enjoyed more if I was more familiar with the various authors from all ages that Swift satirizes.
The copy I had also included "A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit," a good, but somewhat light weight, satire on forced religious ecstasy and contrived devotion.
May 7, 2021
A 2.5
There is some good lampooning here, especially considering it is 300+ years old. But overall a bit dull.
There is some good lampooning here, especially considering it is 300+ years old. But overall a bit dull.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews