British It-Narratives, 1750–1830

It-narratives are prose fictions that take as their central characters animals or inanimate objects. This four-volume reset collection includes numerous examples of narratives in different forms, including short stories, excerpts from novels, periodical fiction and serialized works. While some are told from the perspective of the objects themselves, others use them as hubs around which other characters’ stories are spun. Though similar tales are the basis of many modern children’s books, the earliest eighteenth-century examples addressed an adult audience. Exploring the circulation of objects in an increasingly commercial society they provide an insight into important social and cultural trends. Central to the genre are questions about how humans differ from animals or objects, an important issue for an age haunted by the Atlantic slave trade and capital punishment. These narratives are also of contemporary relevance to our concerns about cyborgs, smart machines, animal rights and ownership of the human genome.

The stories are contextualized by an extensive editorial apparatus including a substantial general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes and a consolidated index. The edition will be of value to those studying eighteenth-century and Romantic literature, children’s literature, the history of the novel and material culture.

• First critical edition of an important eighteenth-century genre
• Links to other forms including spy fiction, secret histories, romans à clef, picaresque narratives, fables and domestic novels
• Over 60 texts represented
• Extensive editorial matter includes: general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes and a full consolidated index

Contents

Volume 1: Money

[Bonnell Thornton], 'The Adventures of a Halfpenny', Adventurer (1753); [Edward Thompson], 'Adventures of a Six-and-Nine-Pence', Westminster Magazine (1774); Mr Truelove, The Adventures of a Silver Penny ([1780]); Helenus Scott, The Adventures of a Rupee (1782); [Richard Johnson], The Adventures of a Silver Penny ([c.1786]); J D—T, 'The Adventures of a Shilling', New Lady’s Magazine (1788–9); [William Perkins Taylor], Argentum: or, Adventures of a Shilling (1794); 'The Adventures of a Bad Shilling in the Kingdom of Ireland', Ireland’s Mirror (1805–6); Ann Mary Hamilton, The Adventures of a Seven-Shilling Piece (1811); The Origin and Adventures of a Hull Eighteen-Penny Silver Token ([1811]); 'The Adventures of a Bank Note', Scourge (1813); 'Adventures of a One Pound Bank Note', Theatre, or, Dramatic and Literary Mirror (1819); 'The Adventures of a Sovereign', Lady's Monthly Museum (1819–22); A Month’s Adventures of a Base Shilling ([c.1820]); Peregrine Oakley, Aureus; or, The Life and Opinions of A Sovereign (1824); [Robert Ainslie], 'The Life and Adventures of a Scotch Guinea Note', Edinburgh Magazine (1826)

Volume 2: Animals

The Life and Adventures of a Cat (1760); 'The Adventures of a Cat', Westminster Magazine (1774); History of a French Louse (1779); [Dorothy Kilner], The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse ([c.1785]); Memoirs and Adventures of a Flea (1785); The Story of the Learned Pig, by an Officer of the Royal Navy (1786); [Stephen Jones], The Life and Adventures of a Fly (1787); 'Memoirs of Amourette, a Lap-Dog', Lady’s Magazine (1791); Edward Augustus Kendall, The Crested Wren (1799); Memoirs of Dick, the Little Poney (1800); [Lucy Peacock], The Life of a Bee ([c.1800]); The Dog of Knowledge; or, Memoirs of Bob, the Spotted Terrier (1801); Felissa; or, The Life and Opinions of a Kitten of Sentiment (1811); Arabella Argus, The Adventures of a Donkey (1815); The Life and Adventures of Toby, the Sapient Pig ([c.1817]); Arabella Argus, Further Adventures of Jemmy Donkey (1821, 1830); Mary [Belson] Elliott, Confidential Memoirs (1821); Ann Elizabeth Oulton, The Adventures of a Parrot, Named Poll Pry (1826)

Volume 3: Clothes and Transportation

Christopher Smart, 'The Genuine Memoirs of an Unfortunate Tye-Wig', Midwife (1751); The Memoirs and Interesting Adventures of an Embroidered Waistcoat (1751); The Travels of Mons. Le Poste-Chaise (1753); The History and Adventures of a Lady’s Slippers and Shoes (1754); The Sedan. A Novel (1757); The Adventures of a Black Coat (1760); Edward Thompson, 'Indusiata: or, The Adventures of a Silk Petticoat', Westminster Magazine (1773); [Dorothy Kilner], The Adventures of a Hackney Coach (1781); The Adventures of an Air Balloon ([after 1781]); The Aerostatic Spy: or, Excursions with an Air Balloon (1785); The Adventures of an Ostrich Feather of Quality (1812); 'Memoirs of a Wig', The Scourge (1814); Richard Fenton, Memoirs of an Old Wig (1815)

Volume 4: Toys, Trifles, and Portable Furniture

The Genuine and Most Surprizing Adventures of a Very Unfortunate Goose-Quill (1751); 'Adventures of a Quire of Paper', London Magazine (1779); Theophilus Johnson, Phantoms; or, The Adventures of a Gold-Headed Cane (1783); [Mary Ann Kilner], The Adventures of a Pincushion ([c.1784]); 'The Adventures of a Gold Ring', Rambler’s Magazine (1783); 'The History and Adventures of a Bedsted', Rambler’s Magazine (1784); 'The Adventures of the Rambler’s Magazine', Rambler’s Magazine (1785); The Adventures of a Whipping-Top ([c.1786]); The Adventures of a Watch! (1788); 'Adventures of a Mirror', Lady's Magazine (1791); The Adventures of a Pin ([c.1796]); [Eliza Andrews], The History of a Pin (1798); [Charlotte Palmer], The Silver Thimble (1799); 'The Adventures of a Pen', European Magazine and London Review (1806); Mary Mister, The Adventures of a Doll (1816); [Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson], The Adventures of a Bible (1821); Transformation of a Beech Tree (1828)

Leaflets

• Colour leaflet

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