Currently Out Of Stock
Hey Presto!
Hardback
€174.00
Collect 522 Reward Points
- Currently Out Of Stock
- Book Synopsis
- In this book the author reveals how medicine shows, both ancient and modern, galvanized Jonathan Swift's imagination and inspired his wittiest satiric voices. Swift dubbed these multifaceted traveling entertainments his**xA0;Stage-itinerant**xA0;or "Mountebank's Stage." In the course of arguing that the stage-itinerant formed an irresistible model for**xA0;A Tale of a Tub, Ormsby-Lennon also surmises that the mountebank's stage will disclose that missing link, long sought, which connects the twin objects of Swift's ire: gross corruptions in both religion and learning. In the early modern medicine show, the quack doctor delivered a loquacious harangue, infused with magico-mysticism and pseudoscience, high-astounding promises, and boastful narcissism. To help him sell his panaceas and snake-oil, he employed a Merry Andrew and a motley troupe of performers. From their stages, many quacks also peddled their own books, almanacs, and other ephemera, providing Grub Street with many of its best-sellers. Hacks practiced, quite literally, as quacks. Merry Andrew and mountebank traded costumes, whiskers, and voices. Swift apes them all in the**xA0;Tale. Published by University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by**xA0;Rutgers University Press.
- About The Author
- Hugh Ormsby-Lennon is Professor Emeritus of English at Villanova University
- Product Details
-
- ISBN
- 9781644531143
- Format
- Hardback
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Press, (24 June 2011)
- Number of Pages
- 414
- Weight
- 454 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 229 x 152 mm
- Categories: