Richard Steele (1) (1672–1729)

I love to stand in front of and admire the Vanity Fair "Spy" prints at The Grand Hotel when I visit. I love the droll humor and suppose the packed frames on a green wall is a Carlton Varney. Somehow, I thought this compendium of writing from a century before that would strike me the same way. Maybe with illustrations, it would! Addison and Steele could easily have been the Colbert and Jon Stewart of their time, but I mostly found the musings of Isaac Bickerstaff, William Honeycomb, etc. to show more ring fairly flat these days, IMO. Still, the chronological selections from The Tatler and The Spectator and an important part of journalistic history, and I respect that. The work includes footnotes to explain references and translate the Latin epigraphs which along with content on literature and stage (and a very interesting one doubting the reality of witchcraft) suggest writing for a more educated and sophisticated audience than popular mags of today aim for (People, etc.) making this seem like a cross between The Arts section from the NYT and Mad Magazine. show less

Many of the selected essays seem so contemporary that it's interesting to reflect that they were written over 300 years ago. e.g. the shame of poverty vs. the fear of poverty.

I very much enjoyed this play - primarily because the main characters were so much more attractive in comparison to the other plays in this collection. Young Bevil is honorable and gains a great treasure by being so. Even the scheming parents end up appearing benevolent rather than scheming.

This little gem of a book presents a set of essays that were printed in the "Spectator" back in the early 1700s. They bring the reader into the society of a fine old country gentleman, Sir Roger de Coverley, and many of his acquaintances. It paints a picture of one part of English life in those days and I enjoyed visiting it very much.