Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries, Vol. 2 of 2: With Recollections of the Author's Life, and of His Visit to Italy (Classic Reprint)

Leigh, Hunt

Biographies & Memoirs

Forgotten Books

First published in 1825, this wicked, clever satire predates Orwell's Animal Farm by 120 years. The Rebellion of the Beasts is attributed to the poet and journalist Leigh Hunt, among whose friends were Keats, Shelley, Hazlitt and Lamb. In 1812, Hunt and his brother John, who co-edited the radical journal the Examiner, were arrested for criticizing the Prince Regent and remained in prison for two years. This experience of oppression was the apparent motivation for this novel which, like Animal Farm involves a revolution in which the beasts take over from corrupt mankind. The setting is Cambridge, where John Sprat, the narrator, finds himself a misfit at this staid English university. It seems that he can do nothing right until one night he breaks into a college library and pillages the ancient stacks. He discovers De Bestiss, an obscure manuscript by Cornelius Agrippa. "Beast can speak," asserts Agrippa, "and he that doubteth the fact may read this booke." And read it Sprat does, chapter and verse, even going so far as to concoct a recipe from it for a magic potion that allows him to converse with animals. In this way, he learns from various animals he encounters—who view him as a great wizard—that the beasts of the world are preparing a rebellion. Sprat acts as the reader's eyewitness to the overthrow of mankind. Their grand rebellion complete, the beasts go on to model themselves on their oppressors and create an animal kingdom with the Ass established as Supreme Monarch. The ultimate twist is that the animals, once in power, are just as corrupt as their human counterparts. The Rebellion of the Beasts is an obvious precursor of George Orwell's Animal Farm, with its Swiftiansatire directed against the monarchy instead of against socialism. More biting than Orwell, this book should take its place beside Gulliver's Travels in every misanthrope's library. It will delight not only the devotees of Swift and Orwell, but also those of Bierce, Twain and Mencken.

Rebellion Of The Beasts The: OR, THE ASS IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE ASS!!

Literature & Fiction

Douglas A. Anderson (Intro)

British & Irish

Academy Chicago Publishers

A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla

History

Europe

BiblioLife

A book for a corner; or, Selections in prose and verse from authors the best suited to that mode of

Imagination and fancy; or, Selections from the English poets, illustrative of those first requisites

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Leigh Hunt: Selected Writings

Routledge

Excerpt from Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries, Vol. 1 of 2: With Recollections of the Author's Life, and of His Visit to ItalyThe reader will oblige me by letting me explain to him, how the volume, here offered to his perusal, came to be what it is. I think it due to myself to make the explanation; and as a conscientious reader of the prefaces of other men, I may request his indulgence without scruple.The work was originally intended to be nothing but a selection from the Author's writings, preceded by a biographical sketch.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries, Vol. 1 of 2: With Recollections of the Author's Life, and of His Visit to Italy (Classic Reprint)

Essays & Correspondence

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