The Augustan Reprint Society
A
LETTER
FROM A
Clergyman to his Friend,
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
THE TRAVELS
OF
Captain Lemuel Gulliver.
(Anonymous)
(1726)
Introduction by
Martin Kallich
PUBLICATION NUMBER 143
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
University of California, Los Angeles
1970
| GENERAL EDITORS William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles ASSOCIATE EDITOR David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles ADVISORY EDITORS Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan James L. Clifford, Columbia University Ralph Cohen, University of Virginia Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago Louis A. Landa, Princeton University Earl Miner, University of California, Los Angeles Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota Everett T. Moore, University of California, Los Angeles Lawrence Clark Powell, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library James Sutherland, University College, London H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Roberta Medford, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library |
INTRODUCTION
We have a Book lately publish'd here which hath of late taken upthe whole conversation of the town. Tis said to be writ by Swift.It is called, The travells of Lemuell Gulliver in two Volumes. Ithath had a very great sale. People differ vastly in theiropinions of it, for some think it hath a great deal of wit, butothers say, it hath none at all.
John Gay to James Dormer (22 November 1726)
As Gay's letter suggests, details concerning the contemporaryreception of Gulliver's Travels exhibit two sides of JonathanSwift's character—the pleasant (that is, merry, witty, amusing) andthe unpleasant (that is, sarcastic, envious, disaffected). A personwith a powerful ego and astringent sense of humor, Swift must havebeen a delightful friend, if somewhat difficult, but also a dangerousenemy. A Letter from a Clergyman (1726), here reproduced in afacsimile of its first and only edition, is a reaction typical ofthose who regard Swift and the sharp edge of his satire with greatsuspicion and revulsion. It displays the dangerously Satanic aspect ofSwift—that side of his character which for some people representedthe whole man since the allegedly blasphemous satire in A Tale of aTub, published and misunderstood early in his career, criticallyaffected, even by his own admission, h