The Expedition Of Humphry Clinker

With the sharp sensivity of “a man without skin” Tobias Smollett humorously attacked the triviality and foibles of eighteenth-century England. Humphry Clinker is his mirthful tale of a tour by coach and four through cities and countryside. Five people embark on the journey: the crusty eccentric, Squire Bramble; his husband-hunting sister, Tabitha; her maid, Winifred; and Bramble’s youthful niece and nephew, Lydia and Jery. En route they are joined by Humphry Clinker, an ill-clad of tattered cloth and empty purse. As misadventure follows misadventure, each character reveals his true self by giving his own conflicting view of the incidents, places, and people encountered along the way. The result is an entertaining and realistic picture of that wonderful age when gentlemen duelled, ladies swooned, and servants rose from rags to riches.