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Laurence Sterne

(1713-1768), Writer and divine; author of 'Tristram Shandy'

Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 16 portraits
Laurence Sterne went from being a country parson to a European celebrity after the publication of his best-selling The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759-66). This was a novel like no other. Its comedy and originality lay not just in the way it told the story – via Sterne’s fictive alter ego 'Parson Yorick' – but also in the attention the author gave to the design of the book, which uses wiggles, dashes and other printing devices to give emphasis and create surprise. Tristram Shandy, and Sterne’s second novel A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768), have never been out of print and are available in translation all over the world.

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