Robert Paltock (1697– March 20, 1767) was an English novelist and
attorney. His most famous work is ''The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a
Cornish Man'' (1751).
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Biography
The only son of Thomas Paltock of
St James's, Westminster, Paltock was born in 1697. He became an attorney and lived for some time in
Clement's Inn. He then moved, before 1759, to Back Lane,
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
. He married Anna Skinner, through whom his son, also named Robert, inherited a small property at
Ryme Intrinseca,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
. There Robert Paltock, who died in London on 20 March 1767, was buried.
[Chisholm, 1911.]
Work
''The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins'' is somewhat on the same plan as ''
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...
'', the special feature being the ''gawry'', or flying woman, whom hero discovered on his island, and married.
John W. Cousin, author of ''A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature'', was not impressed by it, saying:
:"The description of Nosmnbdsgrutt,
icthe country of the flying people, is a dull imitation of
Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIF ...
, and much else in the book is tedious."
[Cousin, 1910.]
Paltock's book was admired by
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
,
Robert Southey
Robert Southey (; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic poetry, Romantic school, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth an ...
,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
,
Leigh Hunt
James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet.
Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...
and
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...
. The book was reprinted several times, notably with an introduction by
A. H. Bullen in 1884. It was translated into French (1763) and into German (1767).
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Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paltock, Robert
1697 births
1767 deaths
English lawyers
18th-century English male writers
18th-century English novelists
English male novelists