The Novel
The Novel
http://pierre-marteau.com/novels.html
THE| HISTORY| OF THE| RISE and FALL| OF| Count HOTSPUR,| With that of his Brother-in-Law,| Colonel HEADSTRONG;| WHEREIN| Are set forth, with all possible brevity, the| Transactions of a long Tract of Years, and| the Steps each of them took to climb up to the| Summit of that Grandeur and Preferment, to| which they rais'd themseves with great Diffi-|culty; and from which, with as great Ease,| through the Means of their Self-will and Pre-|sumption, they were unexpectedly cast down.| Faithfully Translated into English from an Etrurian| Manuscript, lately found in the Great Duke of| Tuscany's Library at Leghorn, for the Use of such| as are, or would be conversant in the Affairs of| State.| [rule]| --- Par nobile Fratrum.| [rule]| LONDON:| Printed for T. MOOR. 1717 (Price 1 s.)
titlepage/ p.1-77/ 8°.
{L: 8132.aaa.1 (15)}.
W. H. McBurney (1960), p.32: 86.
Title: "History".
Tory partisan novel. The place and time obsure: Etruria, faced to fight against the Gauls [French]. Don Vafro [Harley] influeces the good, bigot queen Anastasia [Anne] against Prince Mirandola [Marlborough] and Delphino [Godolphin]. A second input of events follows with the succession of Honorius, the Alleman [George I.]. Caldecacario/Hotspur [Townshend] and Muriopola/Headstrong [Walpole] use the new division of power to take venegance on Vafro, Henrico [Bolingbroke] and Promato [Ormonde] whom they accuse of lèse-majesté. The first is put into the "Tulliano" [Harley is sent to the Tower in 1717], the others flee to the Gauls. Hotspur and Headstrong suffer a decline of their power at the end of the story - propaganda soon proved wrong with Walpoles rise. The fictional setting allows a schematic motivation of the protagonists. Narrative and dramatical passages are rare - an exception being here the very romantick confrontation of Vafro with the Queen p.25-27, allowing the author to spare out details.
o.s.