Laurence Sterne Popular Books

Laurence Sterne Biography & Facts

Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, published sermons and memoirs, and indulged in local politics. He grew up in a military family, travelling mainly in Ireland but briefly in England. An uncle paid for Sterne to attend Hipperholme Grammar School in the West Riding of Yorkshire, as Sterne's father was ordered to Jamaica, where he died of malaria some years later. He attended Jesus College, Cambridge on a sizarship, gaining bachelor's and master's degrees. While Vicar of Sutton-on-the-Forest, Yorkshire, he married Elizabeth Lumley in 1741. His ecclesiastical satire A Political Romance infuriated the church and was burnt. With his new talent for writing, he published early volumes of his best-known novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Sterne travelled to France to find relief from persistent tuberculosis, documenting his travels in A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, published weeks before his death. His posthumous Journal to Eliza addresses Eliza Draper, for whom he had romantic feelings. Sterne died in 1768 and was buried in the yard of St George's, Hanover Square. His body was said to have been stolen after burial and sold to anatomists at Cambridge University, but was recognised and reinterred. His ostensible skull was found in the churchyard and transferred to Coxwold in 1969 by the Laurence Sterne Trust. Biography Early life and education Sterne was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, on 24 November 1713. His father, Roger Sterne, was an ensign in a British regiment recently returned from Dunkirk. His great-grandfather Richard Sterne had been the Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, as well as the Archbishop of York. Roger Sterne was the youngest son of Richard Sterne's youngest son, and consequently, Roger Sterne inherited little of Richard Sterne's wealth. Roger Sterne left his family and enlisted in the army at the age of 25; he enlisted uncommissioned, which was unusual for someone from a family of high social position. Despite being promoted to an officer, he was of the lowest commission and lacked financial resources. Roger Sterne married Agnes Hobert, the widow of a military captain. Agnes was "born in Flanders but...was in fact Anglo-Irish and lived for much of her life in Ireland". The first decade of Laurence Sterne's life was spent from place to place, as his father was regularly reassigned to a new (usually Irish) garrison. "Other than a three-year stint in a Dublin townhouse, the Sternes never lived anywhere for more than a year between Laurence's birth and his departure for boarding school in England a few months shy of his eleventh birthday. Besides Clonmel and Dublin, the Sternes also lived in Wicklow Town; Annamoe, County Wicklow; Drogheda, County Louth; Castlepollard, County Westmeath; Carrickfergus, County Antrim; and Derry City." In 1724, "shortly before the family's arrival in Derry", Roger took Sterne to his wealthy brother, Richard, so that Laurence could attend Hipperholme Grammar School near Halifax. Laurence never saw his father again as Roger was ordered to Jamaica where he died of malaria in 1731. Laurence was admitted to a sizarship at Jesus College, in July 1733 at the age of 20. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in January 1737 and returned in the summer of 1740 to be awarded his Master of Arts. Early career Sterne was ordained as a deacon on 6 March 1737 and as a priest on 20 August 1738. His religion is said to have been the "centrist Anglicanism of his time", known as "latitudinarianism". A few days after his ordination as a priest, Sterne was awarded the vicarage living of Sutton-on-the-Forest in Yorkshire. Sterne married Elizabeth Lumley on 30 March 1741, despite both being ill with consumption. In 1743, he was presented to the neighbouring living of Stillington by Reverend Richard Levett, Prebendary of Stillington, who was patron of the living. Subsequently, Sterne did duty both there and at Sutton. He was also a prebendary of York Minster. Sterne's life at this time was closely tied with his uncle, Jaques Sterne, the Archdeacon of Cleveland and Precentor of York Minster. Sterne's uncle was an ardent Whig, and urged Sterne to begin a career of political journalism, which resulted in some scandal for Sterne and a terminal falling-out between the two men. This falling out occurred after Laurence ended his political career in 1742. He had previously written anonymous propaganda for the York Gazetteer from 1741 to 1742. Sterne lived in Sutton for 20 years, during which time he kept up an intimacy that had begun at Cambridge with John Hall-Stevenson, a witty and accomplished bon vivant, owner of Skelton Hall in the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. Writing Sterne wrote a religious satire work called A Political Romance in 1759. Many copies of his work were destroyed. According to a 1760 anonymous letter, Sterne "hardly knew that he could write at all, much less with humour so as to make his reader laugh". At the age of 46, Sterne dedicated himself to writing for the rest of his life. It was while living in the countryside, failing in his attempts to supplement his income as a farmer and struggling with tuberculosis, that Sterne began work on his best-known novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the first volumes of which were published in 1759. Sterne was at work on his celebrated comic novel during the year that his mother died, his wife was seriously ill, and his daughter was also taken ill with a fever. He wrote as fast as he possibly could, composing the first 18 chapters between January and March of 1759. Due to his poor financial position, Sterne was forced to borrow money for the printing of his novel, suggesting that Sterne was confident in the prospective commercial success of his work and that the local critical reception of the novel was favourable enough to justify the loan. The publication of Tristram Shandy made Sterne famous in London and on the continent. He was delighted by the attention, famously saying, "I wrote not [to] be fed but to be famous." He spent part of each year in London, being fêted as new volumes appeared. Even after the publication of volumes three and four of Tristram Shandy, his love of attention (especially as related to financial success) remained undiminished. In one letter, he wrote, "One half of the town abuse my book as bitterly, as the other half cry it up to the skies — the best is, they abuse it and buy it, and at such a rate, that we are going on with a second edition, as fast as possible." Baron Fauconberg rewarded Sterne by appointing him as the perpetual curate of Coxwold, North Yorkshire in March 1760. In 1766, at the height of the debate about slavery, the composer and former slave Ignatius Sancho wrote to Sterne, encouraging him t.... Discover the Laurence Sterne popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Laurence Sterne books.