Samuel Richardson

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Standard Name: Richardson, Samuel
SR 's three epistolary novels, published between 1740 and 1753, exerted an influence on women's writing which was probably stronger than that of any other novelist, male or female, of the century. He also facilitated women's literary careers in his capacity as member of the publishing trade, and published a letter-writing manual and a advice-book for printers' apprentices.
Stipple engraving of Samuel Richardson, used by Anna Letitia Barbauld in her edition of Richardson's correspondence. He is standing with his right hand tucked into his jacket and a book in his left hand; in the related painting by Joseph Highmore, Richardson holds a paper instead of a book.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Literary responses Elizabeth Griffith
The original letters were immensely popular with readers (among others Sarah Harriet Burney was a devotee); their authors became famous under their pseudonyms. Not everyone agreed in admiring them, however. Lady Bradshaigh remarked to Samuel Richardson
Literary responses Mary Leapor
This volume attracted attention from Samuel Richardson , Christopher Smart , and the young William Cowper , as well as from its chief promoters, John Duncombe and Susanna Highmore .
Rizzo, Betty. “Molly Leapor: An Anxiety for Influence”. The Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin, Vol.
4
, 1991, pp. 313-43.
327-8
Literary responses Jane West
When the fourth volume appeared in 1789, the Critical found it heavy, languid and uninteresting, and judged the serial publication to have been a mistake.
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
68 (1789): 495
Andrew Becket in the Monthly and Mary Wollstonecraft
Literary responses Sarah Chapone
SC 's friend and printer Richardson saw her project in a different and far more simple light than she did: as the administering by a good woman of an antidote to the Poison shed by...
Literary responses Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Henry James 's review in 1865 considered Braddon's success alongside that of Collins , pronouncing her the founder of the sensation novel (defined as devising domestic mysteries adapted to the wants of a sternly prosaic...
Literary responses Sarah Fielding
Samuel Richardson respected The Cry as a new Species of Writing, sent copies to two friends (Sophia Wescomb and Dorothy, Lady Bradshaigh ), and wanted it to go into a second edition—
Londry, Michael. “Our dear Miss Jenny Collier”. Times Literary Supplement, 5 Mar. 2004, pp. 13-14.
13
Literary responses Amelia Opie
The Critical Review, which had praised AO 's earlier work, thought this novel equally well done, and that the description of the heroine's death could stand comparison with those of Richardson 's Clarissa or...
Literary responses Anne Halkett
This work is the basis of AH 's reputation. The publication of 1875 provoked some biographical and critical comment, but less than might have been expected.
Halkett, Anne, and Ann, Lady Fanshawe. “Preface, Introduction, Select Bibliography”. The Memoirs of Anne, Lady Halkett and Ann, Lady Fanshawe, edited by John Loftis, Clarendon Press, 1979, p. v - xxi.
xix
Editor John Loftis praised AH 's fluent prose...
Literary responses Anne Marsh
Chorley 's Athenæum review is remarkable for two things: for the vehemence with which he praised the novel's plotting and the climactic scene of preparations for the wedding (which he quoted at length, only regretting...
Literary responses Frances Sheridan
The novel in its first form was hugely successful: it brought FS instant fame. Johnson teasingly expressed doubts about her moral right to make your readers suffer so much.
qtd. in
Sheridan, Frances. “Introduction”. Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph, edited by Jean Coates Cleary et al., World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 1995.
xi
Boswell praised the Christian morality...
Literary responses Clara Reeve
The Critical Review evaluated this novel respectfully, calling it pleasing and interesting, but John Noorthouck , writing in the Monthly, dismissed it impatiently as one of the regrettably numerous progeny of Samuel Richardson .
qtd. in
Garside, Peter et al., editors. The English Novel 1770-1829. Oxford University Press, 2000, 2 vols.
1: 544
Literary responses Marie-Catherine d' Aulnoy
Bibliographer Melvin D. Palmer assigns to these an important place in the history of French-English prose fiction in the formative years that saw the rise of the modern novel.
Palmer, Melvin D. “Madame d’Aulnoy in England”. Comparative Literature, Vol.
27
, 1975, pp. 237-53.
237
He writes that MCA offers...
Literary Setting Emma Tennant
Her heroine, based on herself aged fifteen onwards, is a red-haired debutante from Scotland, progressing from a seedy finishing school to being launched on the London season, an environment full of seducers and conmen where...
Material Conditions of Writing Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
This venture was triggered by the appearance on the market of Austen 's juvenile play Sir Charles Grandison, itself an adaptation from the novel by Samuel Richardson . London Weekend Television acquired an option...
names Hester Mulso Chapone
  • BirthName: Hester Mulso
    Though she published nothing in her birth-name, she exerted literary influence under this name as a member of Richardson 's circle.

  • Nicknames: Yes Papa; Heck
    These were the childhood nicknames that HMC

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