| Brothers of the Quill: Oliver Goldsmith in Grub Street Subjects: Goldsmith Oliver 1730?-1774; Goldsmith Oliver 1730?-1774 -- Friends and associates; Authors Irish -- Biography; Hack writers -- England -- London -- History -- 18th century; London (England) -- Intellectual life -- 18th century; Oliver Goldsmith arrived in England in 1756 a penniless Irishman. He toiled for years in the anonymity of Grub Street--already a synonym for impoverished hack writers--before he became one of literary London's most celebrated authors. Norma Clarke tells the extraordinary story of this destitute scribbler turned gentleman of letters as it unfolds in the early days of commercial publishing, when writers' livelihoods came to depend on the reading public, not aristocratic patrons. Clarke examines a network of writers radiating outward from Goldsmith: the famous and celebrated authors of Dr. Johnson's "Club" and those far less fortunate "brothers of the quill" trapped in Grub Street. Clarke Norma : Norma Clarke is Professor of English Literature at Kingston University. |