Ned Ward of Grub Street : a study of sub-literary London in the eighteenth century.

Troyer, H.W.

Published by Frank Cass and Company Limited, London, new impression, 1968, 1968

About this Item

Cloth, 8vo, viii, [3], 290 pp, ills. From the blurb - "Here is the first complete study of Edward Ward (1671-1731), one of the most colourful hack writers of all time, second only to Defoe in his age as a figure of importance in the early history of realistic periodical literature. A penny-catching poet, pamphleteer, story teller and ale-house proprietor, Ned Ward portrayed for his generation the 18th century England later pictured by Hogarth and Rowlandson. His impudent and racy prose set forth for the popular consumption of Queen Anne's London a journalistic account of the 'Rag, Tag, and Bobtail . . . Promiscuously jumbled amongst city quality from Beau to Booby, and the Merchant's Lady to the Thumb-Ring'd Ale Wife.' Defoe may have been more prolific, Tom Brown a greater scholar, John Dunton a greater innovator, Thomas D'Urfey a more facile satirist - but 'jovial, brutal, vulgar, graphic Ned Ward' reflected more vividly than any writers of the period the struggles of that host of English hacks who depended for their livelihood on the originality and profligacy of their pens. Nowhere can be found a more effective picture of the times. Ward described what he observed and heard -the city and its environs, the activities of those who walked the streets or loitered in the taverns and coffee houses, the political hearsay, the diverting tales told over the punch bowl, the small talk and gossip of the idle." Top edge slightly dust-stained, otherwise Near Very Good in slightly used dustwrapper. Seller Inventory # ABE-49025

Bibliographic Details

Title: Ned Ward of Grub Street : a study of ...

Publisher: Frank Cass and Company Limited, London, new impression, 1968

Publication Date: 1968

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: 1st Edition