Lives of Scotish Writers, Volume 1

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volumes 1 and 2, appeared on the London market on January 1, 1760. Sterne himself arrived in the capital about three months later. By then, the great city was more than ready to receive its new sensation. One historian of fame has called Sterne "the first English author who can be called a celebrity," a judgment that remains safely this side of hyperbole. Sterne was lionized, petted, and feted by the great and the already famous. A new country dance was named the "Tristram Shandy (as was a racehorse), and London prostitutes, it is said, approached potential customers for a time by asking them if they wanted their clocks wound up. And while Sterne may have written for fame, not money, he got both, selling his copyrights for a lucrative sum. If it is strictly true that the mild prosperity Sterne enjoyed from -156- his clerical livings meant he didn't need this money to survive, he would undeniably enjoy spending it. What is striking about this success story is what it reveals about Sterne's ambition to be "famous." Fama is a goddess that writers have always worshiped, but, in Sterne's case, the emphasis is different ...»