| CHAPTER I. |
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| Burlesque--Parody--The "Splendid Shilling"--Prior--Pope--Ambrose |
| Philips--Parodies of Gray's Elegy--Gay | [1] |
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| CHAPTER II. |
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| Defoe--Irony--Ode to the Pillory--The "Comical Pilgrim"--The |
| "Scandalous Club"--Humorous Periodicals--Heraclitus |
| Ridens--The London Spy--The British Apollo | [22] |
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| CHAPTER III. |
| |
| Swift--"Tale of a Tub"--Essays--Gulliver's Travels--Variety |
| of Swift's Humour--Riddles--Stella's Wit--Directions |
| for Servants--Arbuthnot | [44] |
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| CHAPTER IV. |
| |
| Steele--The Funeral--The Tatler--Contributions of Swift--Of |
| Addison--Expansive Dresses--"Bodily Wit"--Rustic |
| Obtuseness--Crosses in Love--Snuff-taking | [62] |
| |
| CHAPTER V. |
| |
| Spectator--The Rebus--Injurious Wit--The Everlasting |
| Club--The Lovers' Club--Castles in the Air--The |
| Guardian--Contributions by Pope--"The Agreeable |
| Companion"--The Wonderful Magazine--Joe Miller--Pivot |
| Humour | [77] |
| |
| CHAPTER VI. |
| |
| Sterne--His Versatility--Dramatic Form--Indelicacy--Sentiment |
| and Geniality--Letters to his Wife--Extracts |
| from his Sermons--Dr. Johnson | [99] |
| |
| CHAPTER VII. |
| |
| Dodsley--"A Muse in Livery"--"The Devil's a Dunce"--"The |
| Toy Shop"--Fielding--Smollett | [113] |
| |
| CHAPTER VIII. |
| |
| Cowper--Lady Austen's Influence--"John Gilpin"--"The |
| Task"--Goldsmith--"The Citizen of the World"--Humorous |
| Poems--Quacks--Baron Münchausen | [127] |
| |
| CHAPTER IX. |
| |
| The Anti-Jacobin--Its Objects and Violence--"The |
| Friends of Freedom"--Imitation of Latin Lyrics--The |
| "Knife Grinder"--The "Progress of Man" | [141] |
| |
| CHAPTER X. |
| |
| Wolcott--Writes against the Academicians--Tales of a |
| Hoy--"New Old Ballads"--"The Sorrows of Sunday"--Ode |
| to a Pretty Barmaid--Sheridan--Comic Situations--"The |
| Duenna"--Wits | [150] |
| |
| CHAPTER XI. |
| |
| Southey--Drolls of Bartholomew Fair--The "Doves"--Typographical |
| Devices--Puns--Poems of Abel Shufflebottom | [164] |
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| CHAPTER XII. |
| |
| Lamb--His Farewell to Tobacco--Pink Hose--On the |
| Melancholy of Tailors--Roast Pig | [175] |
| |
| CHAPTER XIII. |
| |
| Byron--Vision of Judgment--Lines to Hodgson--Beppo--Humorous |
| Rhyming--Profanity of the Age | [184] |
| |
| CHAPTER XIV. |
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| Theodore Hook--Improvisatore Talent--Poetry--Sydney |
| Smith--The "Dun Cow"--Thomas Hood--Gin--Tylney |
| Hall--John Trot--Barham's Legends | [196] |
| |
| CHAPTER XVI. |
| |
| Douglas Jerrold--Liberal Politics--Advantages of Ugliness--Button |
| Conspiracy--Advocacy of Dirt--The "Genteel |
| Pigeons" | [207] |
| |
| CHAPTER XVII. |
| |
| Thackeray--His Acerbity--The Baronet--The Parson--Medical |
| Ladies--Glorvina--"A Serious Paradise" | [216] |
| |
| CHAPTER XVIII. |
| |
| Dickens--Sympathy with the Poor--Vulgarity--Geniality--Mrs. |
| Gamp--Mixture of Pathos and Humour--Lever |
| and Dickens compared--Dickens' power of Description--General |
| Remarks | [226] |
| |
| CHAPTER XIX. |
| |
| Variation--Constancy--Influence of Temperament--Of |
| Observation--Bulls--Want of Knowledge--Effects |
| of Emotion--Unity of the Sense of the Ludicrous | [241] |
| |
| CHAPTER XX. |
| |
| Definition--Difficulties of forming one of Humour | [276] |
| |
| CHAPTER XXI. |
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| Charm of Mystery--Complication--Poetry and Humour |
| compared--Exaggeration | [285] |
| |
| CHAPTER XXII. |
| |
| Imperfection--An Impression of Falsity implied--Two |
| Views taken by Philosophers--Firstly that of Voltaire, |
| Jean Paul, Brown, the German Idealists, Léon Dumont, |
| Secondly that of Descartes, Marmontel and Dugald |
| Stewart--Whately on Jests--Nature of Puns--Effect of |
| Custom and Habit--Accessory Emotion--Disappointment |
| and Loss--Practical Jokes | [307] |
| |
| CHAPTER XXIII. |
| |
| Nomenclature--Three Classes of Words--Distinction between |
| Wit and Humour--Wit sometimes dangerous, |
| generally innocuous | [339] |