Includes bibliographical references (pages 451-455) and index.
Contents:
Preface -- Introduction -- The time and the place -- The antagonists -- True and false reports, 1714-15 -- Poisonous relations, 1716 -- Horrid wars, 1716 -- The loss of Eden, 1716 -- The second Aesop, 1717 -- An abominable catalogue, 1718-19 -- Crimes and punishments, 1720-24 -- Prison, 1724-7 -- Pillory, 1725-8 -- A confederacy of dunces, 1728-9 -- The public ear, 1730-34 -- The letters of Mr. Pope: stage one, 1735 -- The letters of Mr. Pope: stage two, 1735-6 -- Final exchanges, 1737-47 -- Closing arguments -- Epilogue.
Summary:
The quarrel between the poet Alexander Pope and the publisher Edmund Curll has long been a notorious episode in the history of the book, when two remarkable figures with a gift for comedy and an immoderate dislike of each other clashed publicly and without restraint. However, it has never, until now, been chronicled in full. Ripe with the sights and smells of Hanoverian London, The Poet and Publisher details their vitriolic exchanges, drawing on previously unearthed pamphlets, newspaper articles, and advertisements, court and government records, and personal letters. The story of their battles in and out of print includes a poisoning, the pillory, numerous instances of fraud, and a landmark case in the history of copyright. The book is a forensic account of events both momentous and farcical, and it is indecently entertaining.
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