Author Description

"The correspondence for the years 1755 to 1761 offers a dual narrative of the final years of Richardson's life. One strand follows the literary affairs of an author, editor, and mentor, who is also a printer engaged in a wide range of activities, seeking out new opportunities and expanding his business. Richardson laments that a life of 'work' now rendered all these activities more challenging than in former days, but a review of his personal and private life through his letters demonstrates his ongoing ability to complete existing commitments and projects as well as a willingness to enter into new arrangements up until his death. The counter narrative to this story of progress and expansion comes in the form of disruptions or, perhaps more accurately, interruptions in his life in which events beyond his control have a cumulative impact, diverting him into conflicts which threaten to overwhelm what he calls the 'Spirit of Scribbling' which ordinarily sustains him. The twin narratives of progress on the one hand and disruption on the other appear forcefully in his work as author, editor, mentor, and printer throughout these final years"--