TOBIAS SMOLLETT


The Adventures of Roderick Random


Tobias George Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, Dumbartonshire,
Scotland, in 1721. He was apprenticed to a Glasgow apothecary,
came to London in 1739, much in the way described in "Roderick
Random," with a tragedy in his pocket, and very little else.
The play, "Regicide," he submitted in vain to various
theatrical managers, and, reduced almost to starvation, during
the same year accepted the post of surgeon's mate on board a
King's ship. In 1746 he returned to England, bent upon another
desperate effort to make a living by his pen. A period of
adverse fortune followed, broken, however, in 1748 by the
publication of "The Adventures of Roderick Random." Two years
later Smollett obtained his M.D. degree, and for a number of
years combined medical work with literature. In 1756 he was
made editor of the "Critical Review," a post which resulted in
a fine of £100 and three months' imprisonment for a libel on
Admiral Knowles. He died on October 21, 1771. Smollett wrote
altogether five novels and a number of historical works and
records of travel. It is impossible to overestimate his
influence on novel-writing. Most of the great Victorian
writers, especially Charles Dickens, owe much to his art.