Smollett, Tobias (1721-1777)

The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves

London

Printed for J. Coote

January 1, 1760 - January 1, 1762; 1762

"[M]y guardian angel forsook me when she expired! her last injunctions are deep engraven on my heart!"

The unexpected apparition of Miss Aurelia Darnel, beaming with all the emanations of ripened beauty, blushing with all the graces of the most lovely confusion, could not but produce a violent effect upon the mind of Sir Launcelot Greaves. He was, indeed, overwhelmed with a mingled transport of astonishment, admiration, affliction, and awe. The colour vanished from his cheeks, and he stood gazing upon her, in silence, with the most emphatic expression of countenance. Aurelia was infected by his disorder: she began to tremble, and the roses fluctuated on her face. -- "I cannot forget (said she) that I owe my life to the courage and humanity of Sir Launcelot Greaves, and that he at the same time rescued from the most dreadful death a dear and venerable parent." "Would to heaven she still survived! (cried our adventurer with great emotion.) She was the friend of my youth, the kind patroness of my felicity! my guardian angel forsook me when she expired! her last injunctions are deep engraven on my heart!"
(pp. 46-7)

Writing::Engraving

Searching "conque" and "heart" in HDIS (Prose Fiction)

24 entries in ESTC (1762, 1763, 1767, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1786, 1787, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, 1800).

The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves. By the Author of Roderick Random. 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Coote, 1762).

Note, first published serially in 25 consecutive issues of The British Magazine (January 1, 1760 to January 1, 1762), the novel was longest work of fiction yet to be serialized and the first to be illustrated.

03/10/2005