Enlightenment

Jonathan Swift: Tale of a Tub and Modest Proposal

The Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language. His writing springs from a body of liberal thought which produced not only books but also political pamphlets for public distribution. Swift represents the new, the different and the modern, attempting to change the world by parodying the ancient and incumbent. Firs published 1704, his prose parody, A Tale of a Tub uses three brothers (each representing a main branch of Christianity) to satarise religious excess, whilst further ‘digressions’ parody contemporary writing in literature, politics, theology, Biblical exegesis. Although the work effectively thwarted Swift’s ambition for advancement within the church, it is considered one of his best allegories.

Swift (Jonathan) A Tale of a Tub ; written for the Universal Improvement of Mankind. 12mo. London, 1727.
[R.21.66]
Former owner: David Hughes (1727-77)