A Journal To Stella
by Jonathan Swift /
2017 / English / EPUB
1.1 MB Download
Best remembered as the author of
Best remembered as the author ofGulliver's Travels,
Gulliver's Travels,
Jonathan Swift was a Dublin native whose political pamphleteering
led to a London-based position as editor of a conservative
periodical. This journal, written between 1710–1713, consists of 65
letters to his friend and protégée, Esther "Stella" Johnson, and
her companion, Rebecca Dingley. The letters sparkle with the
satirist's renowned wit and offer an intimate account of the
personalities, politics, and drama of Queen Anne's court.
Jonathan Swift was a Dublin native whose political pamphleteering
led to a London-based position as editor of a conservative
periodical. This journal, written between 1710–1713, consists of 65
letters to his friend and protégée, Esther "Stella" Johnson, and
her companion, Rebecca Dingley. The letters sparkle with the
satirist's renowned wit and offer an intimate account of the
personalities, politics, and drama of Queen Anne's court.
Swift was Stella's tutor when she was a child, and the pair formed
a lifelong attachment. In contrast to the grand epistles Swift
exchanged with Alexander Pope and John Gay, the letters to Stella
were written with no thought of their eventual publication. Full of
court gossip, bawdy jokes, and baby talk, they reveal the author's
opinions, hopes, and disappointments with the immediacy and energy
of real conversation. Swift offers tart assessments of the Duke of
Marlborough ("covetous as Hell, and ambitious as the prince of
it"), the Duke of Newcastle's daughter ("handsome, and has good
sense, but red hair"), and other prominent figures of the era,
including writers Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and William
Congreve. Details of his everyday activities — scrounging for
dinner invitations, quarrels with his manservant, laments over the
price of periwigs, coal, sedan-chairs, and other essentials — offer
insights into eighteenth-century London life. Just as Swift's
literary works reveal his wit and genius, his lively and
affectionate letters provide glimpses of his very soul.
Swift was Stella's tutor when she was a child, and the pair formed
a lifelong attachment. In contrast to the grand epistles Swift
exchanged with Alexander Pope and John Gay, the letters to Stella
were written with no thought of their eventual publication. Full of
court gossip, bawdy jokes, and baby talk, they reveal the author's
opinions, hopes, and disappointments with the immediacy and energy
of real conversation. Swift offers tart assessments of the Duke of
Marlborough ("covetous as Hell, and ambitious as the prince of
it"), the Duke of Newcastle's daughter ("handsome, and has good
sense, but red hair"), and other prominent figures of the era,
including writers Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and William
Congreve. Details of his everyday activities — scrounging for
dinner invitations, quarrels with his manservant, laments over the
price of periwigs, coal, sedan-chairs, and other essentials — offer
insights into eighteenth-century London life. Just as Swift's
literary works reveal his wit and genius, his lively and
affectionate letters provide glimpses of his very soul.