NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne (November 24, 1713 – March 18, 1768) was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics. Sterne died in London after years of fighting tuberculosis. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1713 (MDCCXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (or, more briefly, Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. ... The Monk of Calais (1780) by Angelica Kauffman, depicting Pastor Yorick exchanging snuffboxes with Father Lorenzo ..having a horn snuff box in his hand, he presented it open to me. ... A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ...

Biography

Laurence Sterne was born November 24, 1713 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. His father was an Ensign in a British regiment recently returned from Dunkirk. Sterne’s father’s regiment was disbanded on the day of Sterne’s birth, and within six months the family had returned to Yorkshire in northern England. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Irish Grid Reference S199229 Statistics Province: Munster County: Population (2002) - Town: - Rural: 16,910 Clonmel (Cluain Meala in Irish) is the largest inland town in the south of Republic of Ireland. ... Statistics Province: Munster County Town: North: Nenagh South: Clonmel Code: North: TN South: TS Area: 4,303 kmÂ² Population (2006) 149,040[[1]] County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Ãrann in Irish) is a county in the Republic of Ireland, and situated in the province of Munster. ... Ensign is a junior rank of commissioned officer in the militaries of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. ... Location within France For the battleship, see Dunkerque Dunkirk (French: Dunkerque; Dutch: Duinkerke; German: DÃ¼nkirchen) is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the dÃ©partement of Nord, 10 km from the Belgian border. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The first decade of Sterne’s life was spent moving from place to place as his father was reassigned throughout England and Ireland. During this period Sterne never lived in one place for more than a year. Sterne was sent to Hipperholme Grammar School near Halifax when he was ten years old; he never saw his father again. Sterne was admitted to a sizarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, in July 1733 at the age of 20. His great-Grandfather, who was made Archbishop of York in 1664, had been the Master of Jesus College, twice, earlier in the seventeenth century. Sterne graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in January 1737; and returned in the summer of 1740 to be awarded his Master of Arts degree. Hipperholme Grammar School Hipperholme Grammar School is an independent grammar school in West Yorkshire, England. ... For other uses, see Halifax. ... In the 19th century, a sizar was one of a body of students in the universities of Cambridge and Dublin, who, having passed a certain examination, are exempted from paying college fees and charges. ... College name The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge Named after The Virgin Mary Saint John the Evangelist Saint Radegund Jesus Lane and Jesus Parish Established 1496 Location Jesus Lane Admittance Men and women Master Prof. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ... York shown within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state Constituent country Region Yorkshire and the Humber Ceremonial county North Yorkshire Admin HQ York City Centre Founded 71 City Status 71 Government - Type Unitary Authority, City - Governing body City of York Council - Leadership: Leader & Executive - Executive: Liberal Democrat - MPs: Hugh Bayley (L) John... A B.A. issued from the University of Tennessee. ... In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, the degree of Master of Arts (MA) is awarded to Bachelors of Arts of those universities on application after seven years seniority as members of the university. ...

Sterne seems to have been destined to become a clergyman, and was ordained as a deacon in March of 1737 and as a priest in August, 1738. Shortly thereafter Sterne was awarded the vicarship living of Sutton-on-the-Forest in Yorkshire (1713-1768). Sterne married Elizabeth Lumley in 1741. Both were ill with tuberculosis. In 1743, he was presented to the neighbouring living of Stillington, and did duty both there and at Sutton. He was also a prebendary of York Minster. Sterne’s life at this time was closely tied with his uncle, Dr. Jaques Sterne, the Archdeacon of Cleveland and Precentor of York Minster. Sterne’s uncle was an ardent Whig, and urged Sterne to begin a career of political journalism which resulted in some scandal for Sterne and, eventually, a terminal falling-out between the two men. Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ... This article is about religious workers. ... Sutton-on-the-Forest is a parish in Yorkshire, 10 miles north of York and 5 miles southeast of Easingwold. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Stillington is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. ... A prebendary is a post connected to a cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. ... York Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe and is situated in the city of York in Northern England. ... For the Major League Baseball player, see Maurice Archdeacon. ... Status: Non-metropolitan county Admin. ... A Precentor is a person, usually a clergy member, who is in charge of preparing worship services. ... York Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe and is situated in the city of York in Northern England. ... The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries. ...

Jaques Sterne was a powerful clergyman but a mean-tempered man and a rabid politician. In 1741–42 Sterne wrote political articles supporting the administration of Sir Robert Walpole for a newspaper founded by his uncle but soon withdrew from politics in disgust. His uncle became his archenemy, thwarting his advancement whenever possible. Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford PC,KBE (26 August 1676–18 March 1745), normally known as Sir Robert Walpole, is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. ...

Sterne lived in Sutton for twenty years, during which time he kept up an intimacy which had begun at Cambridge with John Hall-Stevenson, a witty and accomplished bon vivant, owner of Skelton Hall in the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. Without Stevenson, Sterne may have been a more decorous parish priest, but might never have written Tristram Shandy. Skelton Hall was the home of John Hall-Stevenson, friend of Laurence Sterne, in the mid 1700s. ...

It was while living in the country-side, having failed in his attempts to supplement his income as a farmer and struggling with tuberculosis, that Sterne began work on his most famous novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the first volumes of which were published in 1759. Sterne was at work on his celebrated comic novel during the year that his mother died, his wife was seriously ill, and he was ill himself with TB. The publication of Tristram Shandy made Sterne famous in London and on the continent. He was delighted by the attention, and spent part of each year in London, being feted as new volumes appeared. Indeed, Baron Fauconberg rewarded Sterne by appointing him as the perpetual curate of Coxwold, North Yorkshire. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (or, more briefly, Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. ... The title Baron Fauconberg has been created twice in the Peerage of England. ... From the Latin curatus (compare Curator), a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure (cura), of souls of a parish. ... Coxwold is a village in North Yorkshire, 18 miles north of York where the Rev. ... North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in that region and also partly in North East England. ...

In 1759, to support his dean in a church squabble, Sterne wrote A Political Romance (later called The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat), a Swiftian satire of dignitaries of the spiritual courts. At the demands of embarrassed churchmen, the book was burned. Thus, Sterne lost his chances for clerical advancement but discovered his real talents. Turning over his parishes to a curate, he began Tristram Shandy. An initial, sharply satiric version was rejected by Robert Dodsley, the London printer, just when Sterne's personal life was upset. His mother and uncle both died. His wife had a nervous breakdown and threatened suicide. Sterne continued his comic novel, but every sentence, he said, was “written under the greatest heaviness of heart.” In this mood, he softened the satire and told about Tristram's opinions, his eccentric family, and ill-fated childhood with a sympathetic humour, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sweetly melancholic—a comedy skirting tragedy.

Sterne continued to struggle with his illness, and departed England for France in 1762 in an effort to find a climate that would alleviate his suffering. Sterne was lucky to attach himself to a diplomatic party bound for Turin, as England and France were still adversaries in the Seven Years' War. Sterne was gratified by his reception in France where reports of the genius of Tristram Shandy had made him a celebrity. Aspects of this trip to France were incorporated into Sterne’s second novel, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, which was published at the beginning of 1768. The novel was written during a period in which Sterne was increasingly ill and weak. Less than a month after Sentimental Journey was published, early in 1768, Sterne's strength failed him, and he died in his lodgings at 41 Old Bond Street on the 18 March, at the age of 54. He was buried in the churchyard of St. George's, Hanover Square. For other uses, see Turin (disambiguation). ... Combatants Kingdom of Prussia Kingdom of Great Britain and its American Colonies Electorate of Hanover Iroquois Confederacy Kingdom of Portugal Electorate of Brunswick Electorate of Hesse-Kassel Philippines Archduchy of Austria Kingdom of France Empire of Russia Kingdom of Sweden Kingdom of Spain Electorate of Saxony Kingdom of Naples and... The Monk of Calais (1780) by Angelica Kauffman, depicting Pastor Yorick exchanging snuffboxes with Father Lorenzo ..having a horn snuff box in his hand, he presented it open to me. ... An arcade in Old Bond Street Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London which runs through Mayfair from Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... St George Hanover Square is a Church of England church in what now the City of Westminster, built in the early 18th century. ...

In a curiously "Shandean" twist in events, it appears that Sterne's body was stolen shortly after it was interred and sold to the anatomists. It was recognised by somebody who knew him and discreetly reinterred. When the churchyard of St. George's was redeveloped in the 1960s, his skull was disinterred (in a manner befitting somebody who chose for himself the nickname of "Yorick"), partly identified by the fact that it was the only skull of the five in Sterne's grave that bore evidence of having been anatomised, and transferred to Coxwold Churchyard in 1969. The story of the reinterment of Sterne's skull in Coxwold is alluded to in Malcolm Bradbury's novel To The Hermitage. Greek anatome, from ana-temnein, to cut up), is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and organization of living things; thus there is animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytonomy). ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery (also called a graveyard, churchyard or kirkyard) is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ... Yorick can refer to: Yorick, the deceased court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of Shakespeares Hamlet. ... Coxwold is a village in North Yorkshire, 18 miles north of York where the Rev. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery (also called a graveyard, churchyard or kirkyard) is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury (September 7, 1932 â€“ November 27, 2000) was a British author and academic. ...

Works

Sterne's early writing life was unremarkable. He wrote letters, had two ordinary sermons published (in 1747 and 1750), and tried his hand at satire. He was involved in, and wrote about, local politics in 1742. His major publication prior to Tristram Shandy was the satire A Political Romance (1759), aimed at conflicts of interest within York Minster. A posthumously published piece on the art of preaching, A Fragment in the Manner of Rabelais, appears to have been written in 1759. Sterne did not begin work on Tristram Shandy until he was 46 years old. 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... A Political Romance is a 1759 novel by Laurence Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy. ... York Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe and is situated in the city of York in Northern England. ...

Sterne is best known for his novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, for which he became famous not only in England, but throughout Europe. Translations of the work began to appear in all the major European languages almost upon its publication, and Sterne influenced European writers as diverse as Diderot and the German Romanticists. His work had also noticeable influence over Brazilian author Machado de Assis, who made exceptional (and outstandingly original) usage of the digressive technique in the masterful novel Epitaph for a Small Winner. Indeed, the novel, in which Sterne manipulates narrative time and voice, parodies accepted narrative form, and includes a healthy dose of "bawdy" humor, was largely dismissed in England as being too corrupt. Samuel Johnson's verdict in 1776 was that "Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last." This is strikingly different from the views of European critics of the day, who praised Sterne and Tristram Shandy as innovative and superior. Voltaire called it "clearly superior to Rabelais", and later Goethe praised Sterne as "the most beautiful spirit that ever lived." Both during his life and for a long time after, efforts were made by many to reclaim Sterne as an arch-sentimentalist; parts of Tristram Shandy, such as the tale of Le Fever, were excerpted and published separately to wide acclaim from the moralists of the day. The success of the novel and its serialized nature also allowed many imitators to publish pamphlets concerning the Shandean characters and other Shandean-related material even while the novel was yet unfinished. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (or, more briefly, Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. ... Portrait of Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1767 Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 â€“ July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher and writer. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (June 21, 1839 - September 29, 1908) was a Brazilian realist novelist, poet and short-story writer born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ... The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, often subtitled as the Epitaph of a Small Winner, is a novel by the Brazilian writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. ... In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is just a definition; Wiktionary already has it If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ... For other persons named Samuel Johnson, see Samuel Johnson (disambiguation). ... For the singer of the same name, see Voltaire (musician). ... François Rabelais (ca. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The novel itself is difficult to describe. The story starts with the narration, by Tristram, of his own conception. It proceeds by fits and starts, but mostly by what Sterne calls "progressive digressions" so that we do not reach Tristram's birth before the third volume. The novel is rich in characters and humor, and the influences of Rabelais and Cervantes are present throughout. The novel ends after 9 volumes, published over a decade, but without anything that might be considered a traditional conclusion. Sterne inserts sermons, essays and legal documents into the pages of his novel; and he explores the limits of typography and print design by including marbled pages and, most famously, an entirely black page within the narrative. Many of the innovations that Sterne introduced, adaptations in form that should be understood as an exploration of what constitutes the novel, were highly influential to Modernist writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, and more contemporary writers such as Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace. Italo Calvino referred to Tristram Shandy as the "undoubted progenitor of all avant-garde novels of our century." The Russian Formalist writer Viktor Shklovsky regarded Tristram Shandy as the archetypal, quintessential novel, of which all other novels are mere subsets: "Tristram Shandy is the most typical novel of world literature." [1] François Rabelais (ca. ... Cervantes redirects here. ... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ... Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ... David Foster Wallace (born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. ... Italo Calvino, on the cover of Lezioni americane: Sei proposte per il prossimo millennio Italo Calvino (October 15, 1923 â€“ September 19, 1985) (pronounced ) was an Italian writer and novelist. ... // Introduction The distinctive feature of Russian Formalism is the emphasis on the functional role of literary devices and the original conception of the evolution of literary history. ... Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky (or Shklovskii) (January 24, 1893–December 6, 1984) was a Russian and Soviet critic, writer, and pamphleteer. ...

However, the leading critical opinions of Tristram Shandy tend to be markedly polarised in their evaluations of its significance. Since the 1950s, following the lead of D.W. Jefferson, there are those who argue that, whatever its legacy of influence may be, Tristram Shandy in its original context actually represents a resurgence of a much older, Renaissance tradition of "Learned Wit" - owing a debt to such influences as the Scriblerian approach. the first thing that was invented was the automatic DILDO. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... The Scriblerus Club was an informal group of friends that included Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, and Thomas Parnell. ...

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a less influential book, although it was better received by English critics of the day. The book has many stylistic parallels with Tristram Shandy, and indeed, the narrator is one of the minor characters from the earlier novel. Although the story is more straightforward, A Sentimental Journey can be understood to be part of the same artistic project to which Tristram Shandy belongs. The Monk of Calais (1780) by Angelica Kauffman, depicting Pastor Yorick exchanging snuffboxes with Father Lorenzo ..having a horn snuff box in his hand, he presented it open to me. ...

Two volumes of Sterne's Sermons were published during his lifetime, and, despite the fact that more copies of his Sermons were sold in his lifetime than copies of Tristram Shandy, and the fact that for a while he was better known in some circles as a preacher than as a novelist, they are conventional in both style and substance. Several volumes of letters were published after his death, as was Journal to Eliza, a more sentimental than humorous love letter to a woman Sterne was courting during the final years of his life. Compared to many eighteenth century authors Sterne's body of work is quite small. Journal to Eliza is a work by british author Laurence Sterne. ...

Bibliography

His works, first collected in 1779. were edited, with newly discovered letters, by J. P. Browne (London, 1873). A less complete edition was edited by G. Saintsbury (London, 1894). The Florida Edition of Sterne's works is currently the leading scholarly edition - although the final volume (Sterne's letters) has yet to be published. George Edward Bateman Saintsbury (October 23, 1845 - 1933), was an English writer and critic. ...

William Makepeace Thackeray (July 18, 1811 â€“ December 24, 1863) was a British novelist of the 19th century. ... Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald (1834 - 1925) was a British author and critic, painter and sculptor. ... Paul Stapfer (1840â€“1917) was a French essayist, born in Paris, and educated at the Bonaparte Lyceum. ... Henry Duff Traill (1842 â€“ 1900), British author and journalist, was born at Blackheath on 14 August 1842. ... Paul Elmer More (December 12, 1864 â€“ March 9, 1937) was an American critic and essayist. ... Wilbur Lucius Cross (1862 - 1948) was a U.S. educator and political figure. ... Walter Sichel (1855-1933) was an English biographer and lawyer, the brother of Edith Helen Sichel, of German descent, born in London and educated at Harrow and at Balliol College, Oxford. ... Lewis S. Benjamin, (pen name, Lewis Melville) (1874â€“1932) was an English author, born in London, England and educated privately in England and Germany. ... Arthur Hill Cash (b. ...

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Biography