The Journal to Stella is a collection of letters Jonathan Swift wrote to Esther Johnson and Rebecca Dingley while in London between 1710 and 1713. They mix daily news, political observations, and playful private language, offering an intimate view of Swift's life and times. It is worth listening to as a historical and autobiographical record.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
This eBook was produced by Les Bowler.
THE
JOURNAL TO STELLA
BY
JONATHAN SWIFT
EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY
GEORGE A. AITKEN
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
1901
PREFACE
The history of the publication of the Journal to Stella is somewhat curious. On Swift’s death twenty-five of the letters, forming the closing portion of the series, fell into the hands of Dr. Lyon, a clergyman who had been in charge of Swift for some years. The letters passed to a man named Wilkes, who sold them for publication. They accordingly appeared in 1766 in the tenth volume of Dr.
Hawkesworth’s quarto edition of Swift’s works; but the editor made many changes in the text, including a suppression of most of the “little language.” The publishers, however, fortunately for us, were publicspirited enough to give the manuscripts (with one exception) to the British Museum, where, after many years,
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