Tobias Smollett Scotland's First Novelist

This collection takes a fresh look at issues raised not only in Smollett's novels, for which he is usually remembered, but also in other works of this prolific Scottish author. Essays include a demonstration beyond reasonable doubt, after more than two centuries of debate, that it was indeed Smollett who authored ""The Memoirs of a Lady of Quality"" in the ""Adventures of Peregrine Pickle"", with material supplied to him by Frances, Lady Vane; an examination of Smollett's contributions in the ""Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom"" to the rise of the ""Gothic"" novel; an analysis of the role his ""An Essay on the External Use of Water"" (1752) played in the conception of his last novel, the ""Expedition of Humphry Clinker""; and, an exploration of the relationship between satire and graphic art in ""History and Adventures of an Atom"".There is also a thorough review and re-evaluation of Smollett's encounter with Laurence Sterne in the south of France, and the exchange between Yorick and Smelfungus, ""one of the great fictional encounters in English literature""; a canvassing of the details of Smollett's ""Paper War"" with Henry Fielding; and, two essays on Smollett's undeservedly neglected ""History of England"", one addressing the complicated relationships between Smollett's and David Hume's ""History of England""; the second distinguishing for the first time the authoritative editions of the History and providing a descriptive bibliography. O M Brack Jr. is Professor of English at Arizona State University.