Bøker av William Makepeace Thackeray

William Thackeray (1811-63) began as a journalist and produced his first critique in 1837, and his first novel in 1841. His association with Punch began in 1842 and articles continued until 1854. In 1851 he gave a series of lectures on 'The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century' in cities around England and later the USA. This collection of potted biographies comprises Jonathan Swift; Congreve and Addison; Richard Steele; Prior, Gay and Pope; Hogarth, Smollet and Fielding; Sterne and Goldsmith. These seven lectures were delivered on Thackeray's American tour of 1852, but only the six lectures pertaining to English authors were published in England; the seventh - "Charity and Humour" - appeared here for the first time. These lectures were a great success with the Victorian public, and remain a witty, enjoyable and affectionate comment on the period by one of England's greatest writers.

When the Shabby Genteel Story was first reprinted with other stories and sketches by William Makepeace Thackeray, the following note was appended to it:"It was my intention to complete the little story, of which only the first part is here written. Perhaps novel-readers will understand, even from the above chapters, what was to ensue. Caroline was to be disowned and deserted by her wicked husband; that abandoned man was to marry somebody else; hence, bitter trials and grief, patience and virtue, for poor little Caroline, and a melancholy ending - as how should it have been gay? The tale was interrupted at a sad period of the writer's own life. The colors are long since dry; the artist's hand is changed. It is best to leave the sketch, as it was when first designed seventeen years ago. The memory of the past is renewed as he looks at it - die Bilder froher Tage Und manche liebe Schatten steigen auf." Mr. Brandon, a principal character in this story, figures prominently in The Adventures of Philip, under his real name of Brand Firmin; Mrs. Brandon, his deserted wife, and her father, Mr. Gann, are also introduced; thus The Adventures of Philip can be considered a sequel to A Shabby Genteel Story.