Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He worked as a secretary for the writer and diplomat Sir William Temple, became a priest of the Anglican Church, wrote novels and poems, and was also involved in politics. His most famous work is the novel "Gulliver's Travels" (or more accurately: "Gulliver," whose full title was: "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships"), in which he satirizes the political life, philosophical ideas, and science of his time. He also wrote poems, satires, essays, religious works, sermons, articles, letters, and more. The most well-known texts available to scholars today include: "A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome" (1701), "A Meditation upon a Broomstick" (1703-1710), "The Battle of the Books" (1704), "A Tale of a Tub" (1704), "A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind" (1707-1711), "An Argument against Abolishing Christianity" (1708-1711), "The Intelligencer" (with Thomas Sheridan, 1710), "A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue" (1712), "On the Conduct of the Allies" (a political pamphlet against the continuation of the war with France, 1713), "The Journal to Stella" (a diary of his relationship with Esther Johnson, 1710-1713), "Hints Toward an Essay on Conversation" (1713), "A Letter to a Young Gentleman, Lately Entered into Holy Orders" (1720), "Proposal for Universal Use of Irish Manufacture" (1720), "A Letter of Advice to a Young Poet" (1721), "The Drapier's Letters" (letters under the pseudonym M.B. Drapier, against the monetary monopoly imposed by England, 1724, 1725), "Bon Mots de Stella" (an appendix to "Gulliver's Travels," 1726), "A Modest Proposal" (a famous satire suggesting that his compatriots resort to cannibalism, feeding the rich with the children of the poor, 1729), "An Essay on the Fates of Clergymen," "A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding," "Directions to Servants," "On the Death of Esther Johnson," "An Essay On Modern Education," "Three Sermons and Three Prayers," "Writings on Religion and the Church," "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" (1739), and others.