Folio Archives 343: The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 1971
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1wcarter
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 1971
First published in 1766, this novel starts to follow the absolutely perfect family of a rural vicar and his idyllic life with four sons and two daughters. Initially it is an interesting commentary on life in the England of that era but gradually merges into satire as the family encounters steadily worsening, and more and more improbable, misadventures that seem quite out of their control.
The comings, goings and activities of the various family members seem to become further and further from the strict social mores instilled in them by their father, who himself struggles with innumerable moral problems that are beyond his comprehension.
This is a classic novel that was a favourite in its era as an entertaining fiction and a moral tale.
The 219 page book has eight bound-in pages of two tone lithographs by Margaret Wetherbee and a three page forward by “J.H.”. The green endleaves (same front and back) are printed in black and white with a picture. The page tops are stained green and the book is bound in maroon cloth, the covers are blocked with a white pattern and there is a green leather spine label. The dark red textured slipcase measures 23.3x14.2cm.
The Folio Society published an earlier version in 1952 with the same illustrations, but this edition had a dust jacket rather than a slipcase, as was normal for the FS at that time.
1952 Edition
1971 Edition
Endpapers
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2English-bookseller
As general historical background, England in the 18th century has some 10,000 parishes and each one of them would have had the one Church of England church building and a resident clergyman who in almost all cases would have been a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge. Almost all Fellows of Oxbridge colleges were expected either to be clergy or intending to become clergy. So each of these individual parishes would have had a very well educated and usually full time resident clergyman who would be highly literate and well versed in Latin and possibly Greek.
The contribution these men made to a general spread of knowledge and learning and Enlightenment values among their congregation and community may have been considerable. They also made a valuable market for booksellers and a few of them and their children were to make quite a useful contribution to English literature. Jane Austen was a product of a Church of England rectory but there are others famous clerical names such as Lawrence Sterne.
The contribution these men made to a general spread of knowledge and learning and Enlightenment values among their congregation and community may have been considerable. They also made a valuable market for booksellers and a few of them and their children were to make quite a useful contribution to English literature. Jane Austen was a product of a Church of England rectory but there are others famous clerical names such as Lawrence Sterne.
3Jayked
>2 English-bookseller:
That's rather a rosy picture of the C of E monopoly on higher education in place until Victorian times. You had to be an Anglican to enrol at or graduate from Oxford or Cambridge; and when alternative institutions opened at eg. Durham and London there was pressure to exclude from them dissenters and nonconformists.
The livings at the disposal of the two universities were essentially jobs for the boys, and not necessarily the most desired: "there's always the ministry" was a cliche applied to impecunious younger sons. And the livings were not necessarily or even often occupied by those who obtained them. They were doled out to poor graduates at a fraction of the stipend. "Vicar," the name most often associated with a C of E clergyman, means a caretaker or deputy for the Rector who owns the living. So your local clergyman was likely to be living in straitened circumstances doing a job low in the pecking order and not calling for a brilliant degree. The good some did was the more commendable, but difficult to achieve.
That's rather a rosy picture of the C of E monopoly on higher education in place until Victorian times. You had to be an Anglican to enrol at or graduate from Oxford or Cambridge; and when alternative institutions opened at eg. Durham and London there was pressure to exclude from them dissenters and nonconformists.
The livings at the disposal of the two universities were essentially jobs for the boys, and not necessarily the most desired: "there's always the ministry" was a cliche applied to impecunious younger sons. And the livings were not necessarily or even often occupied by those who obtained them. They were doled out to poor graduates at a fraction of the stipend. "Vicar," the name most often associated with a C of E clergyman, means a caretaker or deputy for the Rector who owns the living. So your local clergyman was likely to be living in straitened circumstances doing a job low in the pecking order and not calling for a brilliant degree. The good some did was the more commendable, but difficult to achieve.
