Tobias Smollett
Overview
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and author. He was best known for his picaresque novel
Picaresque novel
The picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...
s, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random
The Adventures of Roderick Random
The Adventures of Roderick Random is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1748. It is partially based on Smollett's experience as a naval-surgeon’s mate in the British Navy, especially during Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741...
(1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
.
Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton
Renton, Scotland
Renton is a small district in central Scotland. In the 2001 National Census it had a population of 2,138.Renton is particularly famous for the village's association football side. Renton F.C...
, in present-day West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...
, Scotland. He was the son of a judge and land-owner, and was educated at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, qualifying as a surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. His career in medicine came second to his literary ambitions, and in 1739 he went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to seek his fortune as a dramatist.
Quotations
Thy spirit, Independence, let me share,Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye.Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare,Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky.
Ode to Independence, strophe 1.
Writing is all a lottery -- I have been a loser by the works of the greatest men of the age.
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker|The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, (1771).
Thy fatal shafts unerring move,I bow before thine altar, Love!
The Adventures of Roderick Random|The Adventures of Roderick Random (1848), Chapter xl, reported in Bartlett's Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).