Other editions of book Memoirs of a Coxcomb by John Cleland

First published in 1751, Memoirs of a Coxcomb is the second novel by John Cleland, after Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, a book that he wrote while in debtor prison and that became one of the most condemned and banned books in history, as the first erotic novel and a precursor to the more recent fifty shade saga. It is a witty depiction of the XVIII century British society that introduced social satire into English literature, a genre fully developed by later authors such as Oscar Wilde.

Published in 1751, John Cleland’s second novel (after the notorious Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) is a witty and complex portrait of aristocratic British society in the mid-eighteenth century. Its young protagonist, Sir William Delamore, meets, falls in love with, and pursues the mysterious heiress Lydia. Rather than a conventional romance, however, the novel is an acerbic social satire, and Sir William an unreliable narrator and incomplete hero. In its experiments with narrative form and its sophisticated examination of masculine identity, Memoirs of a Coxcomb is an important marker in the development of the eighteenth-century novel. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction that places Memoirs in the context of Cleland’s life and literary career. Also included is a broad selection of appendices, including Tobias Smollett’s review of the novel, selections from Cleland’s criticism, three texts by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and contemporary documents on masculinity (particularly the figures of the coxcomb and the fop) and prostitution.

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. ++++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:++++<sourceLibrary>British Library<ESTCID>T057321<Notes>Anonymous. By John Cleland.<imprintFull>London : printed for R. Griffiths, 1751. <collation>[2],386p. ; 12°

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The companion volume to Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill) in an unexpurgated edition with an analysis of the life and works of John Cleland. The woman of pleasure was not a figment of John Cleland’s imagination. She lived and moved among the colorful figures of 18th century England. And she had her male counterpart: the coxcomb . . . man of pleasure. John Cleland knew this life intimately. In Memoirs of a Coxcomb, as in Fanny Hill, he wrote of it with complete frankness and honesty. Suppressed until recently, it is a major work of exotica. John Cleland was penniless when he met Ralph Griffith, a bookseller and became partners in a publishing venture. Cleland was to distill his experiences and write a book called Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, a novel that was to become the most sensational piece of erotica in English literature. In 1747 Fanny Hill was launched into circulation and immortality. Both men achieved their financial objectives - then came the repercussions. Eighteenth century English aristocrats were austere on the surface and licentious underneath. The members of the Privy Council asked how Cleland could be silenced. The answer was simple. He needed money. So the Privy Council gave him a pension exacting his promise not to write a sequel to Fanny Hill. For a while the scheme worked. Cleland retired to the country, amusing himself by writing political pamphlets, poetry, and plays. None of Cleland’s neighbors realized that his peaceful, scholarly man was England’s foremost living pornographer.

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. ++++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 LibraryT057321Anonymous. By John Cleland.London: printed for R. Griffiths, 1751. [2],386p.; 12°