Scriblerus Club

18th Century association of English writers

St James's Palace, where the Scriblerus Club gathered

The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Other members were John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St. John and Thomas Parnell. The group was founded in 1714 and lasted until the death of the founders, finally ending in 1745. Pope and Swift are the two members whose reputations and work have the most long-lasting influence. Working collaboratively, the group created the persona of Martinus Scriblerus, through whose writings they accomplished their satirical aims. Very little of this material, however, was published until the 1740s. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer occasionally joined the club for meetings, though he is not known to have contributed to their literary output. He, along with Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, contributed to the literary productions of the club.[1][2]

The club began as an effort to satirize the abuses of learning wherever they might be found, which led to The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus. The second edition of Pope's The Dunciad also contains work attributed to Martinus Scriblerus.

Richard Owen Cambridge wrote a mock epic poem, the Scribleriad, where the hero is Martinus Scriblerus.

Henry Fielding's play The Welsh Opera is presented as a tribute to the "Scriblerians". Fielding's pen name was "Scriblerus Secundus".

## See also

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* Poetry portal

* 18th century in literature
* Augustan poetry
* 1712 in poetry
* 1745 in poetry
* The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats

## References

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1. ^ "Scriblerus Club". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
2. ^ Birch, Dinah; Hooper, Katy, eds. (2013-05-21), "Scriblerus Club", The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199608218.001.0001/acref-9780199608218-e-6800, ISBN 978-0-19-960821-8, retrieved 2024-04-26

## Further reading

[edit]

* Lewis, Peter, and Nigel Wood. John Gay and the Scriblerians. London: Vision, 1989.
* Marshall, Ashley. The Practice of Satire in England, 1658-1770. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.

## External links

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* BBC audio file. In our time Radio 4 discussion programme on the Scriblerus Club. 45 minutes.
* Google Books S
t, D. Memoirs of the Life of Scriblerus. London: A. Moore, 1723.

* v
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Alexander Pope

Plays|

* Three Hours After Marriage (1717)

Essays|

* "Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry" (1727)

Poetry|

* "Ode on Solitude" (1700)
* Pastorals (1709)
* An Essay on Criticism (1711)
* Messiah (1712)
* The Rape of the Lock (1712)
* Windsor-Forest (1713)
* The Temple of Fame (1715)
* Eloisa to Abelard (1717)
* "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady" (1717)
* Messiah (Samuel Johnson's Latin translation; 1728)
* The Dunciad (1728–29, 1742–43)
* "An Essay on Man" (1734)
* Moral Essays (1731–35)
* Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot (1735)

Related|

* Popeswood
* Binfield
* Scriblerus Club
* Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus
* "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"
* Heroic couplet

People|

* Martha Blount
* John Caryll

* v
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* e

Jonathan Swift

Sermons|

* Sermons of Jonathan Swift

Satires|

* Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1701)
* A Tale of a Tub (1704)
* The Battle of the Books (1704)
* Gulliver's Travels (1726–1727, 1735)
* A Modest Proposal (1729)

Essays|

* Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting (1706)
* An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1708)
* The Conduct of the Allies (1711)
* Drapier's Letters (1724/25)
* Directions to Servants (published 1745)

Miscellany|

* Isaac Bickerstaff writings (1708)
* The Examiner newspaper (1710–1714)
* "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713 poem)
* "The Lady's Dressing Room" (1732 poem)
* A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738)
* A Journal to Stella (published posthumously - 1766)

Related|

* Esther Johnson
* Esther Vanhomrigh
* Scriblerus Club
* Swift crater
* The House That Swift Built (1982 film)
* "The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Call'd the Lady's Dressing Room" (1734 poem)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

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