The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Tobias Smollett's last published
novel and most celebrated work, appeared in June 1771, three months
before the author's death. A classic in the history of the English
novel, it takes the form of a collection of letters written by
various members of Mr. Matthew Bramble's family (for whom Humphry
Clinker is a general servant) during their eight months of travel
in England and Scotland in the 1760s. The wanderings of the Bramble
party result in a series of amusing adventures and episodes,
unfolding within the main plot in which the eccentric and
contentious characters--"originals" as Bramble's nephew calls
them--discover the sources of true happiness. In this work,
Smollett realized two long-standing artistic goals--a harmonious
fusion of satire and comedy and, through the deliberate
intertwining of historical and contrived details, a portrayal of
the world as constructed from both fiction and fact. In achieving
the latter, Smollett was aided by the novel's form, for the
epistolary style of travel books in his day set a precedent for the
extensive commentary on incidents, experiences, people, and places
in Humphry Clinker and allowed him to relate the same stories
through multiple points of view. Much of the continuing appeal of
the novel can be traced to the gossipy insights found in its mass
of historical, biographical, economic, political, social,
geographical, and topographical details. One meets, for example,
Smollett's version of such historical personages as William Pitt,
James Quin, and the Duke of Newcastle, as well as fictionalized
versions of Smollett's own friends and enemies. Even minor
characters are often taken directly from history. In addition, the
book includes numerous quotations from and allusions to the Bible,
earlier and contemporary literature, the Book of Common Prayer,
medical matter, and proverbial lore. This edition of Humphry
Clinker includes illustrations by George Cruikshank and Thomas
Rowlandson and is the first scholarly edition to feature a
comprehensive introduction, exhaustive textual editing, and
detailed notes that cite passages from Smollett's nonfictional
works and the works of his contemporaries to analyze the mass of
allusions and references in the novel. Thomas R. Preston's
introduction discusses the composition, publication, and early
reception of Humphry Clinker, the crucial importance of money in
the narrative and its revelation of character, and Smollett's use
of language and dialect.
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