| CHAPTER I. |
|
| Burlesque--Parody--The "Splendid Shilling"--Prior--Pope--Ambrose |
| Philips--Parodies of Gray's Elegy--Gay | 1 |
|
| CHAPTER II. |
|
| Defoe--Irony--Ode to the Pillory--The "Comical Pilgrim"--The |
| "Scandalous Club"--Humorous Periodicals--Heraclitus |
| Ridens--The London Spy--The British Apollo | 22 |
|
| CHAPTER III. |
|
| Swift--"Tale of a Tub"--Essays--Gulliver's Travels--Variety |
| of Swift's Humour--Riddles--Stella's Wit--Directions |
| for Servants--Arbuthnot | 44 |
|
| CHAPTER IV. |
|
| Steele--The Funeral--The Tatler--Contributions of Swift--Of |
| Addison--Expansive Dresses--"Bodily Wit"--Rustic |
| Obtuseness--Crosses in Love--Snuff-taking | 62 |
|
| CHAPTER V. |
|
| Spectator--The Rebus--Injurious Wit--The Everlasting |
| Club--The Lovers' Club--Castles in the Air--The |
| Guardian--Contributions by Pope--"The Agreeable |
| Companion"--The Wonderful Magazine--Joe Miller--Pivot |
| Humour | 77 |
|
| CHAPTER VI. |
|
| Sterne--His Versatility--Dramatic Form--Indelicacy--Sentiment |
| and Geniality--Letters to his Wife--Extracts |
| from his Sermons--Dr. Johnson | 99 |
|
| CHAPTER VII. |
|
| Dodsley--"A Muse in Livery"--"The Devil's a Dunce"--"The |
| Toy Shop"--Fielding--Smollett | 113 |
|
| CHAPTER VIII. |
|
| Cowper--Lady Austen's Influence--"John Gilpin"--"The |
| Task"--Goldsmith--"The Citizen of the World"--Humorous |
| Poems--Quacks--Baron MÜnchausen | 127 |
|
| CHAPTER IX. |
|
| The Anti-Jacobin--Its Objects and Violence--"The |
| Friends of Freedom"--Imitation of Latin Lyrics--The |
| "Knife Grinder"--The "Progress of Man" | 141 |
|
| CHAPTER X. |
|
| Wolcott--Writes against the Academicians--Tales of a |
| Hoy--"New Old Ballads"--"The Sorrows of Sunday"--Ode |
| to a Pretty Barmaid--Sheridan--Comic Situations--"The |
| Duenna"--Wits | 150 |
|
| CHAPTER XI. |
|
| Southey--Drolls of Bartholomew Fair--The "Doves"--Typographical |
| Devices--Puns--Poems of Abel Shufflebottom | 164 |
|
| CHAPTER XII. |
|
| Lamb--His Farewell to Tobacco--Pink Hose--On the |
| Melancholy of Tailors--Roast Pig | 175 |
|
| CHAPTER XIII. |
|
| Byron--Vision of Judgment--Lines to Hodgson--Beppo--Humorous |
| Rhyming--Profanity of the Age | 184 |
|
| CHAPTER XIV. |
|
| Theodore Hook--Improvisatore Talent--Poetry--Sydney |
| Smith--The "Dun Cow"--Thomas Hood--Gin--Tylney |
| Hall--John Trot--Barham's Legends | 196 |
|
| CHAPTER XVI. |
|
| Douglas Jerrold--Liberal Politics--Advantages of Ugliness--Button |
| Conspiracy--Advocacy of Dirt--The "Genteel |
| Pigeons" | 207 |
|
| CHAPTER XVII. |
|
| Thackeray--His Acerbity--The Baronet--The Parson--Medical |
| Ladies--Glorvina--"A Serious Paradise" | 216 |
|
| CHAPTER XVIII. |
|
| Dickens--Sympathy with the Poor--Vulgarity--Geniality--Mrs. |
| Gamp--Mixture of Pathos and Humour--Lever |
| and Dickens compared--Dickens' power of Description--General |
| Remarks | 226 |
|
| CHAPTER XIX. |
|
| Variation--Constancy--Influence of Temperament--Of |
| Observation--Bulls--Want of Knowledge--Effects |
| of Emotion--Unity of the Sense of the Ludicrous | 241 |
|
| CHAPTER XX. |
|
| Definition--Difficulties of forming one of Humour |
|
