GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
When the romance of Lemuel Gulliver appeared in 1727 it was immediately seized upon by an eager public. The first edition was gone in a week and was selling at an advanced price before the second edition could be printed. Many a reader at once got out his map to try and locate the Island of Lilliput, and the captain of a ship told Lord Scarborough that he knew Gulliver very well—had met him several times. Gulliver's Travels was written by Jonathan Swift, the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, one of the most original of writers, whose work was notably brilliant in the field of politics. From early youth he suffered from some disease of the body that made him cross and irritable, but he was much honored by the poor people of Ireland as their friend and champion. Daniel Defoe, who was about the same age as Swift, and lived at the same time, said Swift was a walking index of all books. It is interesting to note that two of the world's wonderful books, Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, appeared when their authors were sixty years of age, and within three years of each other.