Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus by Alexander Pope, Peter Ackroyd (Foreword)
Rich with hilarious episodes, Scriblerus is an ingenious satire of false learning and bad taste that has much to say to the pseudo-intellectual world of today. By taking one ambitious father and his determination to do everything in his power to produce a child of genius, Pope exposes the true folly of the men of his age and their absurd veneration of the ancients. As this hallowed child grows into a man, it becomes clear that instead of being the scholar his father so desired, he is simply the inevitable offspring of a laughable generation of pseudo-intellectuals and literati. Editorial Reviews Review I didn't know that there was also a bogus biography of the person, but here it is. -- The Guardian, Nicolas Lezard From the Publisher Hesperus Press, as suggested by their Latin motto, Et remotissima prope, is dedicated to bringing near what is far--far both in space and time. Works by illustrious authors, often unjustly neglected or simply little known in the English-speaking world, are made accessible through a completely fresh editorial approach or new translations. Through these short classic works, which feature forewords by leading contemporary authors, the modern reader will be introduced to the greatest writers of Europe and America. An elegantly designed series of exceptional books. About the Author Alexander Pope is the greatest English poet of the eighteenth century, with The Rape of the Lock universally regarded as his masterpiece. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. After Martin had satisfied his curiosity here, he was conducted into another apartment. Just at the entrance of the door appeared a negro prince. His habiliments bespoke him royal; his head was crowned with the feather of an ostrich, his sable feet and legs were interlaced with purple and gold, spangled with the diamonds of Cornwall and the precious stones of Bristol. Though his stature was of the lowest, yet he behaved himself with such an air of grandeur as gave evident tokens of his regal birth and education. He was mounted upon the least palfrey in the universe; a palfrey whose natural beauty stood not in need of those various coloured ribbons which braided his mane and were interwoven with his tail. Again the crystal clarion sounded, and after several courteous speeches between the black Prince and Martin, our youthful philosopher walked into the midst of the room, to bless his sight with the most beautiful curiosity of nature. On a sudden entered at another door the two Bohemian sisters, whose common parts of generation had so closely allied them that nature seemed here to have conspired with fortune that their lives should run in an eternal parallel. The sun had twice eight times performed his annual course since their mother brought them into the world with double pangs. Lindamira's eyes were of a lively blue; Indamora's were black and piercing. Lindamira's cheeks might rival the blush of the morning; in Indamora the lily overcame the rose. Lindamira's tresses were of the paler gold, while the locks of Indamora were black and glossy as the plumes of a raven. How great is the power of love in human breasts! In vain has the wise man recourse to his reason, when the insinuating arrow touches his heart and the pleasing poison is diffused through his veins. But then how violent, how transporting must that passion prove, where not only the fire of youth, but the unquenchable curiosity of a philosopher, pitched upon the same object! For how much soever our Martin was enamoured on her as a beautiful woman, he was infinitely more ravished with her as a charming monster. What wonder then if his gentle spirit, already humanized by a polite education to receive all soft impressions, and fired by the sight of those beauties so lavishly exposed to his view, should prove unable to resist at once so pleasing a passion and so amiable a phenomenon?
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: Hesperus Press: , 2002
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ISBN: 9781843910015 | 1843910012
112 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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