Tobias Smollett - Wikipedia Tobias Smollett From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Scottish poet This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tobias Smollett" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Tobias Smollett Born Tobias George Smollett (1721-03-00)March 1721 Dalquhurn (now part of Renton), Scotland Died 17 September 1771(1771-09-17) (aged 50) Livorno, Italy Occupation Author, poet and surgeon Alma mater University of Glasgow University of Aberdeen Period 1748–1771 Genre Picaresque, satire Tobias Smollett as depicted on the Scott Monument Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 (baptised) – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) and The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), which influenced later novelists, including Charles Dickens. His novels were amended liberally by printers; a definitive edition of each of his works was edited by Dr O. M. Brack Jr to correct such variations. Contents 1 Life 2 Monuments 3 References in literature 4 Bibliography 4.1 Poetry 4.2 Minor Poems 4.3 Odes 4.4 Translations 4.5 Novels 4.6 Plays 4.7 Non-fiction 4.8 Periodicals 5 Radio 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Life[edit] Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton in present-day West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was the fourth son of Archibald Smollett of Bonhill, a judge and landowner who died about 1726, and Barbara Cunningham, who died about 1766. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he qualified as a surgeon. Some biographers assert that he then proceeded to the University of Edinburgh, but left without earning a degree. His career in medicine came second to his literary ambitions; in 1739 he went to London to seek fortune as a dramatist. Unsuccessful, he obtained a commission as a naval surgeon on HMS Chichester and travelled to Jamaica, where he settled down for several years. In 1742 he served as a surgeon during the disastrous campaign to capture Cartagena. On his return to Britain, Smollett established a practice in Downing Street and married a wealthy Jamaican heiress, Anne "Nancy" Lascelles (1721–1791), in 1747. She was a daughter of William Lascelles. They had one child, a daughter Elizabeth, who died aged 15 years about 1762. He had a brother, Captain James Smollett, and a sister, Jean Smollett, who married Alexander Telfair of Symington, Ayrshire. Jean succeeded to Bonhill after the death of her cousin-german, Mr Commissary Smollett, and resumed her maiden name of Smollett in 1780. They lived in St John Street off Canongate, Edinburgh, and had a son who was in the military. Smollett's first published work was a poem about the Battle of Culloden entitled "The Tears of Scotland", but it was The Adventures of Roderick Random which made his name. His poetry was described as "delicate, sweet and murmurs as a stream."[1] The Adventures of Roderick Random was modelled on Le Sage's Gil Blas and published in 1748. After that, Smollett finally had his tragedy The Regicide published, although it was never performed. In 1750, Smollett was granted his MD degree at the University of Aberdeen. He also travelled to France, where he obtained material for his second novel, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, another success. Having lived for a brief time in Bath, he returned to London and published The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom in 1753. He was now recognised as a major author. His novels were published by the well-known London bookseller Andrew Millar.[2] Smollett became associated with such figures as David Garrick, Laurence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, and Samuel Johnson, whom he famously nicknamed "that Great Cham of literature".[3] In 1755 he published an English translation of Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, which he revised in 1761. In 1756, he became editor of The Critical Review. Portrait of Tobias Smollett by Nathaniel Dance-Holland, ca. 1764 Smollett then began what he regarded as his major work, A Complete History of England (1757–1765). During that period he served a brief prison sentence for libel and produced another novel, The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1760). After suffering the loss of their only daughter, he and his wife went abroad, and the result was the publication Travels Through France and Italy (1766). He also published The History and Adventures of an Atom (1769), which gave his opinion of British politics during the Seven Years' War in the guise of a tale from ancient Japan. In 1768, the year he moved to Italy, Smollett entrusted Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore with selling off the slaves he still owned in Jamaica.[4] A further visit to Scotland helped to inspire his last novel, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), published in the year of his death. He had for some time been suffering from an intestinal disorder. Having sought a cure at Bath, he retired to Italy, where he was buried in the old English cemetery in Livorno, Italy. A plaque at the head of St John Street, off the Royal Mile marks his Edinburgh home. His wife continued to live there until at least 1785.[5] Monuments[edit] There is a monument to his memory beside Renton Primary School, Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on which there is a Latin inscription. The area around the monument was improved in 2002, with an explanatory plaque. After his death in Italy in 1771, his cousin Jane Smollett had the Renton monument built in 1774. It comprises a tall Tuscan column topped by an urn. On the plinth is a Latin inscription written by Professor George Stuart of Edinburgh, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre and Dr Samuel Johnson. It is a category A listed building.[6] Tobias Smollett Monument in Renton, West Dunbartonshire There is also a plaque at his temporary residence in Edinburgh, just off the Royal Mile at the head of St John's Street. This states that he resided there in the house of his sister, Mrs. Telfer, for the summer of 1766. A second plaque (dating the building at 1758, making it relatively new at that time) states that he "stayed here occasionally," implying more than one visit, which may well be true if it was the house of his sister. Smollett is one of the 16 Scottish writers and poets depicted on the lower section of the Scott Monument in Princes Street, Edinburgh. He appears on the far left side of the east face. There is a street in Nice, France, named after him. References in literature[edit] Mr Brooke in George Eliot's Middlemarch says to Mr Casaubon: "Or get Dorothea to read you light things, Smollett – Roderick Random, Humphry Clinker. They are a little broad, but she may read anything now she's married, you know. I remember they made me laugh uncommonly – there's a droll bit about a postillion's breeches." In W. M. Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair, Rebecca Sharp and Miss Rose Crawley read Humphry Clinker: "Once, when Mr. Crawley asked what the young people were reading, the governess replied 'Smollett'. 'Oh, Smollett,' said Mr. Crawley, quite satisfied. 'His history is more dull, but by no means so dangerous as that of Mr. Hume. It is history you are reading?' 'Yes,' said Miss Rose; without, however, adding that it was the history of Mr. Humphry Clinker." Charles Dickens's David Copperfield mentions that his young protagonist counted Smollett's works among his favourites as a child. John Bellairs referenced Smollett's works in his Johnny Dixon series, where Professor Roderick Random Childermass reveals that his late father Marcus, an English professor, had named all his sons after characters in Smollett's works: Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphry Clinker, and even "Ferdinand Count Fathom", who usually signed his name F. C. F. Childermass. George Orwell praised him as "Scotland's best novelist". In Hugh Walpole's Fortitude, the protagonist Peter refers to "Peregrine Pickle" as a text that inspired him to document his own memoirs. Bibliography[edit] Poetry[edit] 1746: Advice[7] 1747: Reproof: A satire, a sequel to Advice[7] Minor Poems[edit] "The Tears of Scotland" "The Verses on a young lady playing on a harpsichord and singing" "Love Elegy" Odes[edit] "Burlesque" "Mirth" "Sleep" "Leven Water" "Blue-Eyed Ann" "Independence" Translations[edit] 1748: The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, published anonymously (dated, incorrectly, "1749"), translated from the original L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane by Alain-René Le Sage[7] 1755: The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, translated from the original Spanish of Miguel de Cervantes.[7] Vol. 1:.[8] Vol. 2:.[9] 1761–1765: The Works of Voltaire, English translation of Voltaire in 35 volumes, which Smollett edited with Thomas Francklin[10] Novels[edit] 1748: The Adventures of Roderick Random, published anonymously[7] 1751: The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, published anonymously[7] 1753: The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom[7] 1762: The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves, first book edition, originally serialised in The British Magazine, January 1760 – December 1761 (see below)[7] 1769: The History and Adventures of an Atom[7] 1771: The Expedition of Humphry Clinker[7] Plays[edit] 1749: The Regicide; or, James the First, of Scotland: A tragedy (play)[7] 1757: The Reprisal; or, The Tars of Old England: A comedy, anonymously published; a play performed on 22 January[7] Non-fiction[edit] 1756: A Compendium of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages, published anonymously[7] 1757–1758: A Complete History of England by David Hume, in four volumes, with Smollett adding his own Continuation of the History of England from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II, published 1760–65, as an additional volume[7] 1766: Travels through France and Italy[7] 1768–1769: The Present State of all Nations, in eight volumes[7] The Narrative of the Base and Inhuman Arts that were Lately Practised upon the Brain of Habbakkuk Hilding The Expedition against Carthagena The Dying Prediction Commentary on a Philosophical Dictionary, (10 volumes) Periodicals[edit] 1756: Editor and co-writer, The Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature, a periodical published semi-annually until 1790[7] 1760: The British Magazine, a periodical published in eight volumes; Volumes 1 and 2 include the first publication of Launcelot Greaves (see below)[7] Radio[edit] The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was adapted for radio in three one-hour episodes in August 2008. It was dramatised by Yvonne Antrobus and starred Stuart McLoughlin as Clinker and Nigel Anthony as Matthew Bramble. See also[edit] Physician writer Old English Cemetery, Livorno References[edit] ^ Gilfillan, George, dissertation in The Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray and Smollett 1855, kindle ebook 1855 ASIN B004TQHGGE ^ "Andrew Millar Project, University of Edinburgh". www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016. ^ Bartleby [1]. ^ Michael Morris (2017), Don Roberto on Doughty Deeds; or, Slavery and Family History in the Scottish Renaissance, in Carla Sassi and Silke Stroh (2017), Empires and Revolutions: Cunninghame Graham & His Contemporaries, Scottish Literature International, p. 57. ^ Williamsons Edinburgh Directory 1785. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Renton, Main Street, Smollett Monument (LB1168)". Retrieved 22 June 2020. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6 ^ de Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel (1755). The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, Volume 1. A. Millar. ^ de Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel (1755). The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, Volume 2. A. Millar. ^ Kenneth Simpson, Smollett, Tobias George (1721–1771) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online ed. January 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2009, pay-walled. Lewis, Jeremy (Cape, 2003) Tobias Smollett George Rousseau (1982). Tobias Smollett: Essays of Two Decades (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark) George Rousseau (2004). Nervous Acts: Essays on Literature, Culture and Sensibility. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-3454-1 (Paperback) ISBN 1-4039-3453-3 (Hardcover) External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Tobias Smollett Wikisource has original text related to this article: Author:Tobias Smollett Tobias Smollett at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA) Works by Tobias Smollett at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Tobias Smollett at Internet Archive Works by Tobias Smollett at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Online editions of his works Smollett Monument, including translation of the inscription[permanent dead link] v t e Works by Tobias Smollett Novels The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753) The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1760) The History and Adventures of an Atom (1769) The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) Non-fiction Travels through France and Italy (1766) Authority control BNE: XX1218700 BNF: cb11925049t (data) CANTIC: a10418842 GND: 118615076 ICCU: IT\ICCU\CFIV\046288 ISNI: 0000 0001 2281 277X LCCN: n79149073 NDL: 00457029 NKC: jn19990008051 NLA: 36115306 NLG: 142628 NLI: 000123904 NTA: 069385874 PLWABN: 9810648313005606 SELIBR: 207876 SNAC: w60v8jht SUDOC: 027142205 Trove: 336184 VcBA: 495/18992 VIAF: 68935985 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n79149073 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tobias_Smollett&oldid=1002115222" Categories: 1721 births 1771 deaths 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis People from West Dunbartonshire Tuberculosis deaths in Italy Spanish–English translators Maritime writers 18th-century Scottish writers 18th-century Scottish novelists Scottish translators 18th-century British poets Scottish poets 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish surgeons Alumni of the University of Glasgow British expatriates in Jamaica British medical writers Scottish historians Historians of England Scottish travel writers Scottish political writers People of the Scottish Enlightenment Royal Navy Medical Service officers Infectious disease deaths in Tuscany 18th-century British translators Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from October 2017 All articles needing additional references EngvarB from April 2015 Use dmy dates from April 2015 Articles with Project Gutenberg links Articles with Internet Archive links Articles with LibriVox links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from March 2018 Articles with permanently dead external links Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ICCU identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLG identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Languages العربية Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎ Български Català Čeština Cymraeg Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego Հայերեն Italiano Magyar مصرى Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська Volapük 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 22 January 2021, at 23:07 (UTC). 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