Laurence Sterne

[9] From 1715 to 1723, the Sternes moved repeatedly (about once a year) between poor family lodgings in army barracks in Britain and Ireland,[10] with brief ownership of a townhouse in Dublin during a particularly prosperous stint from 1717 to 1719.[11].These postings included three separate moves to Dublin, at other times living in Plymouth, the Isle of Wight, Wicklow, Annamoe, and Carrickfergus.[13] This arrangement reflected both the poor financial resources of Sterne's father, and the strained relationship he had with his wealthier family members.[26] Sterne lived in Sutton for 20 years, during which time he continued a close friendship that had begun at Cambridge with John Hall-Stevenson, a witty and accomplished bon vivant, owner of Skelton Hall in the Cleveland district of Yorkshire.[30] Sterne's published attacks on the Tory party earned him career favours from the church (including a prebendary of York Minster), but also harsh personal criticism.Sterne abruptly abandoned his political writing, leading to a permanent falling-out with his uncle, and stalling his ecclesiastical career.[24] In 1744, Sterne purchased several pieces of farmland in Sutton, with the hope that raising crops and dairy cattle would supplement his household's foodstores and finances.[33] Sterne published A Political Romance; or, The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat in January 1759, a satirical work with unflattering caricatures of Fountayne's critics.[35] The Archbishop of York was embarrassed by how public the church's internal disputes had become, and ordered all 500 copies of A Political Romance burned.It was while living in the countryside, failing in his attempts to supplement his income as a farmer and struggling with tuberculosis, that Sterne began work on his best-known novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the first volumes of which were published in 1759.[42] As Sterne assiduously promoted his book, some of the attention he received was scandal: at the time, it was slightly disreputable for any gentleman to write for financial gain; for a clergyman to appear motivated by money, and to use "indecent" humour to pursue it, was doubly questionable."[42] Baron Fauconberg rewarded Sterne by appointing him as the perpetual curate of Coxwold in the North Riding of Yorkshire in March 1760.[47] Sterne wrote back to say that he had just written a scene sympathizing with the oppression of a black servant, which appeared in the next published volume of Tristram Shandy.[48] Struggling again with his ill health, Sterne departed England for France in 1762 in an effort to find a climate that would alleviate his suffering.[49] Early in 1767, Sterne met Eliza Draper, the wife of an official of the East India Company, while she was staying on her own in London.Circumstantially, it was said that his body was recognised by Charles Collignon, who knew him[57][58] and discreetly reinterred him back in St George's, in an unknown plot.[67] His major publication prior to Tristram Shandy was the satire A Political Romance (1759), aimed at conflicts of interest within York Minster."[75] This is strikingly different from the views of continental European critics of the day, who praised Sterne and Tristram Shandy as innovative and superior.[72] His work also had noticeable influence over Brazilian author Machado de Assis, who made use of the digressive technique in the novel The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas.
Shandy Hall , Sterne's home in Coxwold , North Yorkshire
Sterne painted in watercolour by French artist Louis Carrogis Carmontelle , c. 1762
Portrait bust by Joseph Nollekens , 1766, National Portrait Gallery, London
First edition of Tristram Shandy , printed in nine volumes, part of the collection of the Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall
Laurence Stern (journalist)The ReverendClonmelLondonJesus College, CambridgeThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, GentlemanA Sentimental Journey Through France and ItalyA Political RomancenovelistAnglican clericsizarshipSutton-on-the-ForestsatiresermonsSt George's, Hanover SquareensignDunkirkRichard Sternearchbishop of YorkElvington, North YorkshireDublinPlymouthIsle of WightWicklowAnnamoeCarrickfergusHalifaxJamaicaHipperholme Grammar SchoolclassicalJesus College, OxforddeaconMaster of ArtsAnglicanismlatitudinarianismconsumptionlivingStillingtonLevettJohn Hall-StevensonSkelton HallClevelandarchdeaconprecentorpolitical journalismpropagandaprebendaryYork MinsterShandy HallCoxwoldpamphlet warJohn Fountayneopen lettersA Political Romance; or, The History of a Good Warm Watch-CoatBishop of GloucesterBaron FauconbergcurateIgnatius SanchoGreat Britain in the Seven Years' WarFrance in the Seven Years' WarwatercolourLouis Carrogis CarmontelleSeven Years' WarEliza DraperEast India CompanyJournal to ElizaBritish MuseumJoseph NollekensOld Bond StreetanatomistsCharles CollignonFreemasonschurchyardMalcolm BradburyRabelaisJonathan SwiftMiguel de Cervantesliterary criticSamuel JohnsonVoltaireGoethearch-sentimentalistDenis DiderotGerman RomanticistsBrazilianMachado de AssisThe Posthumous Memoirs of Bras CubasRussian FormalistViktor ShklovskyModernistJames JoyceVirginia WoolfThomas PynchonDavid Foster WallaceItalo CalvinoRenaissanceScriblerianletter collectionsList of abolitionist forerunnersList of Irish writersThe TimesProQuestCash, Arthur H.W. M. ThackerayPercy FitzgeraldPaul StapferH. D. TraillEnglish Men of LettersP. E. MoreL. S. BenjaminWikisourceStandard EbooksProject GutenbergInternet ArchiveLibriVoxIn Our TimeBBC Radio 4National Portrait Gallery, LondonLibrary of CongressL. Tom Perry Special CollectionsHarold B. Lee LibraryBrigham Young UniversityTristram Shandy (opera)A Cock and Bull StorySmelfungus