Francis Coventry

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Francis Coventry Criticism

Francis Coventry, an English novelist, poet, and essayist, is best known for his novel The History of Pompey the Little; or, The Life and Adventures of a Lap-Dog (1751), which enjoyed significant popularity in the mid-eighteenth century. Despite the era's low literacy rates and expensive publication costs, the novel saw multiple editions, reflecting its widespread appeal. As noted by Robert Adams Day, Pompey the Little was an unconventional work during a time when the novel was still a novel concept itself. Coventry's work straddles the transitional phase of the novel's evolution, highlighting the genre's burgeoning place in fashionable culture while individual novels were often seen as ephemeral.

Contents

  • Principal Works
  • Essays
    • The History of Pompey the Little
    • Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (letter date 1752)
    • An introduction to Pompey the Little
    • Fielding's Followers
    • Fiction in the 1740s: Backgrounds, Topics, Strategies
  • Further Reading