Le Conte du tonneau - Swift, Jonathan 1667-1745 (The Hague Scheurleer, 1741)
A 'Tale of a Tub' (see also X1C18) was first published by the Irish clergyman and novelist Jonathan Swift in 1704; it is the first and perhaps most difficult of all his satires. The title is thought to refer to a dissenting priest’s pulpit, and the work is a biting parody on the religious extravagances that Swift perceived among the clergy at the start of the 18th century. The narrative is written using a complex though playful technique of interlinking stories concerning the lives of three brothers. particularly noteworthy for the woodcut illustrations that punctuate the text. For example, there is a striking image of a priest reprimanding the congregation down below, with a gallows and theatre shown in the background. The frontispiece also illustrates a whale distracted by a barrel thrown overboard by sailors: an allegory, perhaps, of how the text was designed to draw the attention of political and religious dissenters away from the affairs of the ‘ship’ of state.
A Tale of a Tub. Written for the Universal Improvement of Mankind.
Contenant tous ce que les Arts & Sciences ont de plus sublime et de plus misterieux; avec plusieurs autres pièces très-curieuse ... traduit de l'Anglois
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Novel; Satire; Religion; United Kingdom; bibliotheek; bibliotheek; blokfluit; oud-nieuw; doedelzak; fondscatalogus; Swift, J; tabak; Willem III; kritiek; muziek; muziek; door de neus zingen