IV
One of the oddest contemporary references to Richardson appears in
an obscure tale of low life in London, The Life and Imaginations of
Sally Paul, which bears the imprint, "London: Printed for S.
Hooper,
at Caesar's-Head, near the New Church, in the Strand. 1760." The
caption-title is "The History of Sarah Paul." I do not find this title recorded
in any bibliography, but there is a copy in the Fondren Library, The Rice
Institute. Sally, a prostitute, lives with an old man, and the wretched couple
are trying to eke out an existence in the City. She is disguised as a boy.
The winter preceding, and while we were on the London side of the
water, we were in the same manner distressed for work, he then applied to
Mr. Richardson, the parliament printer, in Fleet-street, and worked for him
at the Press a considerable time, in a business quite new to him, while I had
the honour to attend the same press in the capacity of a devil, and I do
assure you executed my part with as much dexterity as any imp in those
black regions could pretend to.
[9]
The reference to parliamentary printing and the location of the press 'in
Fleet-street' (really in White Lion Court, running from Fleet Street to
Salisbury Square) identify the printing house of the novelist, who thus
makes an appearance in a work of which he would have heartily
disapproved.
water, we were in the same manner distressed for work, he then applied to
Mr. Richardson, the parliament printer, in Fleet-street, and worked for him
at the Press a considerable time, in a business quite new to him, while I had
the honour to attend the same press in the capacity of a devil, and I do
assure you executed my part with as much dexterity as any imp in those
black regions could pretend to.[9]