The Life and Errors of John Dunton, Citizen of London
With the Lives and Characters of More Than a Thousand Contemporary Divines and Other Persons of Literary Eminence

This two-volume work, published in 1705 and reissued in its 1818 edition, contains an early example of English autobiographical writing.

John Dunton (Author), John Nichols (Edited by)

9781108074049, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 April 2014

454 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.57 kg

This two-volume work, originally published in 1705 and now reissued in John Nichols' edition of 1818, was one of the earliest examples of autobiographical writing in English. John Dunton (1659–1732), a highly eccentric bookseller and publisher, was also responsible for one of the first periodicals in London, the Athenian Gazette, which invited its readers to submit questions on any topic, to be answered by the Athenian Society, a group of learned men (in fact, Dunton himself and some cronies). However, he was not a practical businessman, and the death of his wife and his own illness led to poverty, and to hack-work for others. The Life and Errors was followed by pamphlets attacking those whom he blamed for his misfortunes. The work gives a fascinating picture of authors and the book trade in Restoration London. Volume 1 contains Dunton's autobiography, preceded by a short biography by Nichols.

Memoirs of the author
John Dunton's life and errors
1. From his birth to his fifteenth year
2. An idea of a new life
3. Life and errors
4. Idea of a new life
5. Of bachelorship
6. Idea of a new life
7. Life and errors from the day of his marriage
8. Idea of a new life
9. Brief characters of some eminent persons
10. The after-thought.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]