Samuel Jackson Pratt
Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749-1814) was an English novelist known for his sentimental and epistolary works. Born in Huntingdonshire to a well-off family, he initially pursued a career in the clergy before shifting to the arts as an actor, adopting the stage name Courtney Melmoth. Pratt's literary output included poetry and criticism, but he is best remembered for his novels, particularly the popular travelogues *Gleanings through Wales, Holland, and Westphalia* (1795) and *Gleanings in England* (1801), which reflect his moralistic approach and societal observations rooted in his religious upbringing.
Despite achieving commercial success, Pratt faced criticism for his writing style and perceived lack of originality, with many noting that he borrowed heavily from contemporaries such as Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding. His most notable work, *Emma Corbett: Or, The Miseries of Civil War* (1780), is recognized as the first British novel to draw significantly upon the themes of the American Revolution. Throughout his career, Pratt maintained a complex public persona, often contrasting sharply with how he was viewed by his peers, who considered him to have a weak character. He passed away in 1814, leaving behind a mixed legacy in the realm of 18th-century literature.
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Samuel Jackson Pratt
- Born: December 25, 1749
- Birthplace: Huntingdonshire, England
- Died: October 4, 1814
Biography
Samuel Jackson Pratt, a prolific sentimental and epistolary novelist, was born in 1749 in Huntingdonshire, England, to a well-off family. He was ordained as a curate, but he abandoned the clergy to work in more decadent pursuits, first as an actor using the stage name Courtney Melmoth, and then as a writer of poetry and criticism, sometimes publishing under his stage name. His fiction, however, retained a moral emphasis consistent with his early religious training, albeit with a utilitarian slant.
He lived in Bath, England, in the early stages of his literary career, working as a bookseller to supplement his income while cultivating relationships with the local literari and salon circles, particularly that of Lady Miller. Correspondence from that circle indicates that he was highly unpopular and viewed as having a weak character, in direct contrast with his carefully cultivated public image as a moral and sentimental man. His most popular publications during his lifetime, the sentimental travelogues Gleanings through Wales, Holland, and Westphalia (1795) and Gleanings in England (1801), cemented this reputation.
Although critics praise the satire and characterization of Pratt’s best work, much of his work is criticized on stylistic grounds, both for the development of his narratives and the quality of his exposition. Pratt was primarily a popular novelist who experienced little creative growth during his career and who adapted both thematic material and stylistic devices from major authors of the period, particularly Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and the prototypical sentimental novelist Lawrence Sterne. His contemporaries commented that this derivative tendency came more out of a desire for profit and fame than from lack of talent, and the strategy certainly worked for Pratt: his novels all sold well and his novel Emma Corbett: Or, The Miseries of Civil War, went through nine English editions and six American ones and was translated into two French editions within a decade of its publication in 1780. It is noteworthy as the first British novel to draw extensively on the American Revolution for plot and setting. Pratt died in 1814.