| Tobias George
Smollett |
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| Nationality - Scottish |
Profession - Author |
| Date of birth - 1721
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Date of death - 1771 |
| Place of birth
- Dalquhurn in Renton : Dumbartonshire |
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Tobias George Smollett was born at Dalquhurn in Renton, Dumbartonshire in 1721.
At fourteen he was apprenticed to a Glasgow doctor, and lived in a back attic in Gibson's Land in the merchant city of the Glasgow tobacco barons, later going on to study at the University of Glasgow.
He became a surgeon's mate in the navy and, later, in 1744, began practice as a surgeon in the London of Johnson, Garrick and Handel. His first literary work was an historical play called The Regicide about James I which he wrote whilst living in Glasgow.
Smollet's comic inventiveness influenced Sheridan, Dickens and Thackeray, and Scott paid tribute to his impact on him, pointing out Smollett's ability to make readers laugh out loud.
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Smollett's other books include a Complete history of England (1757-58), which was popular and financially successful, The Present state of all nations, a world geography, notable for its time, and The History and adventures of an atom (1769), a coarse satire on English public affairs.
Smollett played a part in Britain's first Scottish administration, that of the Earl of Bute. After editing the Critical review (1756-63), he produced The Briton (1762-63) a government propaganda sheet, which more than met its match in the opposition's North Briton, edited by Wilkes. He also translated the French picaresque romance Gil Blas by Le Sage and the Spanish classic Don Quixote. His poetry includes The Tears of Scotland, a heartfelt lament for Culloden, and his Ode to Leven Water, celebrating the famous river which flowed past his childhood home.
Tobias George Smollett died near Leghorn in Italy in 1771. |
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