University of Virginia Library

Samuel Johnson and the Preface to Abbe' Prevost's Memoirs of a Man of Quality
by
O M Brack, Jr.

Edward Cave, the founder in 1731 of the Gentleman's Magazine, would have had a larger fortune, Samuel Johnson observed, "had he not rashly and wantonly impaired it by innumerable projects, of which I know not that ever one succeeded."[1] Johnson's extensive involvement in two of Cave's unsuccessful projects, the translation from the French of Pierre François Le Courayer's edition of Father Paul Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent and Jean Pierre de Crousaz's A Commentary on Mr. Pope's Principles of Morality or Essay on Man, is well known. Unknown, however, until discovered by Thomas Kaminski, is that Johnson was involved in another of Cave's publication failures, a translation from the French of Abbé Antoine François Prévost D'Exiles's novel, Memoirs et aventures d'un homme de qualité (1728-31).[2] Entitled Memoirs of a Man of Quality, the first volume of the anonymous translation was published 25 April 1738, "Printed and sold by J. Wilford," and the second volume, "Printed for E. Cave," in November 1741, but dated "1742" on the title page.[3] This essay is an examination of the extent of Johnson's contribution to the Memoirs and its textual history.

What is the extent of Johnson's involvement in Cave's Memoirs of a Man of Quality? He was not responsible for the translation of the first volume of the novel since its printing must have been virtually complete by the time Johnson began visiting St. John's Gate, Cave's office and the home of the Gentleman's Magazine. "Ad Urbanum," Johnson's first contribution to

Cave's popular magazine, had appeared in March 1738. The favorable reception this poem received opened the way for Johnson to approach Cave about the publication of London, his imitation of Juvenal's third satire, and during April and early May he visited Cave to complete negotiations. Cave was taciturn, but "if at any time he was inclined to begin the discourse," Sir John Hawkins observes, "it was generally by putting a leaf of the Magazine, then in the press, into the hand of his visitor, and asking his opinion of it."[4] When Johnson visited St. John's Gate it appears not to have been a leaf of the magazine Cave thrust into his hand, however, but part of the first volume of his forthcoming Memoirs of a Man of Quality. Either on his own initiative or at the request of Cave, Johnson added to a preface apparently written by the anonymous translator the eight sentences enclosed in brackets below and, perhaps, touched up the rest. If the passages in brackets are removed, the remainder makes a complete preface in a style lacking overall Johnson's characteristic force and balance. It is on the basis of style that the passage in the preface must be attributed to Johnson—Kaminski calls the style "strikingly Johnsonian" and J. D. Fleeman "certainly persuasively SJ's"—as no external evidence appears to have survived.[5]

The first draft of the preface must have been written by the translator. He begins the English translation of the Memoirs proper with the second paragraph of the French, omitting the first paragraph, except for the quotation from Ovid, which he retains for his preface. The preface, it should be noted, does not have a direct counterpart in the French edition, which has instead an "Avis de l'Editeur," written by Prévost to maintain the fiction that "Cet Ouvrage me tomba, l'automne passé, entre les mains, dans un voiage que je fis à l' Abbaye de . . . où l'Auteur s'est retire."[6] Prévost's "Avis" was omitted in Cave's edition, undoubtedly because the first draft of the preface incorporates many of its ideas on fate, courage, and virtue. Johnson, in a less specific way, also takes some cues for his remarks from Prévost.[7] The preface is here printed from the first edition of volume one (1738), with three emendations from the second edition (1742).[8]

PREFACE

The following Memoirs have already been so well receiv'd in the World, that there is no occasion to make any Apology for introducing them to the Reader in an English Dress. A number of People[9] who are now living have seen their Author, and they all own that, as to his Person, he was one of the handsomest Men of his Age. The Reader will find the other Part of his Character described in the following Pages; [where he will see a brave Man struggling with the Storms of Fate: He will see Virtue oppress'd, but never over-power'd; and Villainy prosperous, but never happy: He will there perceive, that the principal Ingredient of Happiness does not lie in exterior Circumstances, but in the inward Composure of Mind. As this is the great Maxim which this Author lays down, there is scarce a Page of his Book, but what proves this important Truth; and, at the same time, that the best and the most virtuous Passion may border upon Vice, when carried too far, and when not directed by Reason and Religion. The understanding Reader will easily discern, that the Author has been a Man of Passions, so strong, that they have sometimes transported him beyond the strict Bounds of both; but at the same time he will admire how a Man, amidst such a Multitude of Events, and such a Variety of Pressures, should always find Resources in his own Courage, and superior Capacity, which have extricated him out of Difficulties, under which a Man of less Virtue and Patience would have sunk, or, by yielding to the Torrent, have exchang'd the solid Pleasures of Virtue for the gay Trappings of Vice. The Moral convey'd[10] us by every Incident of his Life, is such as may be expected from a Philosopher, and a Christian. We every where find the Satisfaction arising from Villainy transitory and delusive, and the virtuous Man rising in the home-felt Joy of Mind and Conscience, in proportion as he sinks in the Eye of the Vulgar and the Mean.]

The Translator has taken the Liberty in several Instances to soften, but never to contradict the Author's Meaning. The Reason of this will appear to an English Reader, who considers the Author as a Man strictly adhering to the Religion in which he was educated, and sufficiently conscious of the Superiority which his Birth gave him over the Generality of his Readers in his own Country: So that the Dress in which the following Memoirs now appear, may suit every Man, whatever be his Religion or Quality. It may be perhaps proper[11] to acquaint the Reader, that in his Introduction to these Memoirs he says, that he had the same Reason for writing them, as Ovid had for writing Verse;

And, notwithstanding what is advanced by the French Editor, they certainly were design'd by the Author for the Publick, since we every where find him applying to the Passions, and appealing to the Reason of his Readers. Besides, the Stile is every where chaste, lively and polite; which seldom or never is found, when the Account is no better than a few hasty Notes, put together by an Author. [In short, the Translator may venture to affirm, That of all the numerous Productions of this kind, no Author has, equally with the Marquis, found the Secret of reconciling the Marvellous with the Probable, the Pathetic with the Noble, and Variety with Use. The Great may here view how transitory their State may prove; the Oppress'd may learn, that there is no Condition of Life so abject, but what Virtue and Patience may soften and

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retrieve; the Lover may here find, that nothing but Merit can lay a solid Foundation for Happiness; and every Man, be his State and Condition of Life ever so low or high, may perceive that nothing is so valuable as Sincerity and Truth.]

The extent of Johnson's contribution to Cave's edition of Memoirs of a Man of Quality may be determined in part by an unsigned letter which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for May 1740 (10:252), two years after the publication of the first volume of Memoirs on 25 April 1738, calling attention to proposals allegedly issued for printing a new translation of Prévost's novel.[12]

After a few new introductory words ("In our Author's own Adventures, the Reader [will see a brave Man]"), it reprints as a continuous paragraph, enclosed in double quotation marks, Johnson's two passages from the 1738 preface, with revisions that tighten the wording and better fit the passage into a new context. The Preface reads, for example, "he will see a brave man . . . Fate: He will see Virtue oppress'd"; the letter places a comma after "Fate" and eliminates the second "He will see. In another instance the preface reads, "The understanding Reader will easily discern, that the Author"; the sentence is revised in the letter to indicate the author: "It will easily be discerned that 'the Marquis de Bretagne.'" Altogether there are about a dozen substantive changes.[13]

After reprinting the passages by Johnson from the Preface, the letter to the Gentleman's Magazine concludes:

This letter of May 1740, obviously written to puff Cave's Memoirs of a Man of Quality and to attempt to dissuade readers from buying a rival edition, raises a number of interesting questions. Although a rival translation began to be published in March 1742, no edition ever appeared with the title Memoirs of the Life and Adventures of a French Nobleman retired from the World, or in an octavo format, and there is no record of an edition issued by subscription at this time, at least in England. Had proposals been issued for a rival edition or had only a rumor reached St. John's Gate that a new translation was underway? Note that the correspondent says, "Proposals I am told are published" (italics mine). This suggests that he has not seen them, yet he goes on to say that "The following character of the work is given in the said proposals." The second paragraph, enclosed in double quotation marks, "is taken almost Verbatim from the Preface to the first Volume" of Cave's edition, as the correspondent alleges. What is most curious is that it splices together two sections of the preface which include Johnson's entire contribution. Johnson would seem to be the most likely candidate to have incorporated his own contribution into the letter, although it is possible that someone on the staff of the Gentleman's Magazine, Cave, for example, may have retained the manuscript of Johnson's separate contribution or knew what his contribution was. But the passage, it will be recalled, is alleged to have appeared in proposals for a rival edition. Were there proposals? Although it is impossible to say with certainty, it is unlikely that a rival publisher just happened to splice together the two passages by Johnson for new proposals. When it is considered that the stylistic revisions in the passages resemble those made by Johnson in other works, the likelihood of separately printed proposals containing the two passages is further diminished.

The paragraph comparing Prévost's novel with François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, archbishop of Cambray's Les aventures de Télémaque, also shows signs of Johnson's hand, and is undoubtedly an attempt to couple Cave's publication with one of the most popular works in Europe during the eighteenth century. During this period Cave frequently turned to Johnson,

not only to defend the Gentleman's Magazine, but also to promote various publishing projects, such as his edition of Jean Baptiste Du Halde's Description of China.[15]

The most curious statement of all I am at a loss to explain. In the opening paragraph the correspondent states that the subject of his letter will "concern your humble Servant." In what way would the announcement of a rival edition affect Johnson? Was he at work translating the second volume of Memoirs? Although there is no convincing evidence that Johnson had a hand in the translation, he may have worked on it, nonetheless. Kaminski has shown that during the early years of his employment by Cave, Johnson worked primarily as a translator. Sir John Hawkins observes of Johnson's translation from the French of Father Jerome Lobo's A Voyage to Abyssinia that "Were we to rest our judgment on internal evidence, Johnson's claim to the title of translator of this work would be disputable; it has scarce a feature resembling him."[16]

Cave's edition of Prévost's novel, Memoirs of a Man of Quality, had languished after the publication of the first volume on 25 April 1738. Word that a new translation was about to appear seems to have alarmed Cave enough that he asked Johnson to write a letter puffing his edition in the May 1740 Gentleman's Magazine, concluding with a reminder that the first volume was available and that the "Remainder is to be brought into one other Volume of the same Size." But there were further delays. A year later, in the May 1741 issue of the magazine, readers were told that volume one was "Now first Published in English" and that volume two "is in the Press, and almost finished" (11:280). In fact the second volume was not announced in the magazine as published until November 1741 (11:614). The first volume had been published with the imprint "Printed and sold by J. Wilford, behind the Chapter-House in St Paul's Churchyard." The second volume, however, bears the imprint "Printed for E. Cave, at St. John's Gate," with a notice underneath: "Where may be had Volume I." At the beginning of the volume, in an advertisement not written by Johnson but which includes an awkward paraphrase of his comparison of the works of Fénelon and Prévost, the reader is told that "the first volume of the translation of these Memoirs was published some time ago, and so well received, that the continuation was very much desired, particularly by the ladies," adding, "but though the publication of it has been long retarded by unforeseen impediments, it is hoped their curiosity is not abated." The nature of the "unforeseen impediments" can

only be conjectured. If Johnson was responsible in some way for all or part of the translation of the second volume, as suggested above, this might have caused a delay in its publication. Johnson was notoriously dilatory in producing copy for his translations but also was out of Cave's employ from June 1739 until at least April 1740.[17] Perhaps, as A. D. Barker suggests, "it was the congestion in [Cave] and [Thomas] Gardner's affairs in 1738-40" that "delayed the appearance of the second volume."[18] A more likely explanation for a delay was the low sales of the first volume. Unwilling to invest additional money in a failure, Cave may have stalled on publishing a second volume until a rival translation threatened his investment in the first volume.

Evidence for the low sales of the first volume of Memoirs is the reissuing by Cave of the first edition sheets of volume one with the two preliminary leaves containing the title page and preface reset. On the new title page he changed the imprint to read "London: Printed for E. Cave, at St. John's Gate. M DCC XLII," and called it the "SECOND EDITION." The only portion of the book that is a second edition is the preface. In the process of resetting the preface, three textual revisions are introduced which may well be by Johnson.[19] Although there is no external evidence, the first volume was probably reissued about the time the second volume was published in November 1741. In the February 1742 Gentleman's Magazine Cave published a second letter puffing the Memoirs. The letter, which shows no sign of Johnson's hand, is signed "F. S." and recommends the work highly (12:95).

Cave's attempt to forestall a rival with the publication of the May 1740 letter in the Gentleman's Magazine ultimately failed, although it may have allowed him time to complete work on his second volume. A new translation was published in Dublin in early March 1741/42: The Memoirs and Adventures of the Marquis de Bretagne, and Duc D'Harcourt. Written Originally in French; and Now done into English, By Mr. Erskine, Dublin: Printed by Oli. Nelson, at Milton's Head in Skinner-Row, For the Translator, M DCC XLI.[20] Mr. Erskine includes a "Preface by the French Editor," translated from Prévost's original, and a "Preface by the Translator." The first paragraph of this preface begins by quoting from the 1740 letter in the Gentleman's Magazine beginning with "In our Author's own Adventures" through "the Vulgar and the Mean," with several revisions: "observe" is changed to

"perceive," "discerned" to "observed," "he has been sometimes transported" to "he was often transported," "should always have found resources" to "should have found Means," "which have extricated him" to "to extricate himself," and "would have sunk" to "must have sunk." Erskine's concluding sentence to this first paragraph is representative of his style: "In short, to sum up his Character in one Word, never was there a more loving Husband, a more tender Father, a more faithful Guide, or a Man more solidly virtuous." He begins his second and final paragraph with a revised version of Johnson's comparison between the works of Fénelon and Prévost in the May 1740 letter: "His Travels with the Duc d'Harcourt's Son may be justly enough compared to the Archbishop of Cambray's Telemachus, with this Difference, that Mr. Fenelon makes Mentor conduct his Hero through a Course of imaginary Adventures, whereas our Author accompanies a young Nobleman in real Travels, attended with such a Variety of Events, that scarce any Accident can happen to a Traveller, but what he may find a parallel Case . . . ." That Erskine's source for the passages by Johnson is this letter and not the preface to the Memoirs is clear. He not only uses the passage on Fénelon and Prévost but incorporates variant readings not found in the preface, right down to following the letter's spelling "villany" instead of "villainy."[21] Was this the new translation for which the proposals were written? It would seem not. Often the account of a work in the proposals is included with little change as a prefatory piece to a work when published, as Johnson does for both the Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae and the Harleian Miscellany, for example.[22] Having already written an account for the proposals which would serve well as a preface, why chop up the account and rewrite it in an undistinguished style which would scarcely disguise that it had been plagiarized? As might be expected from Johnson, he emphasizes, especially in the final two sentences of the preface, that the appeals of Prévost's novel are virtue, patience, sincerity, and truth. Both Erskine's preface and the advertisements in the newspapers, however, play up the Protagonist's youthful adventures and the love interest. This explains why Erskine omitted Johnson's two concluding sentences from his preface. A new edition, "Translated from the original French By Mr. Erskine," with his preface, appeared in London 13 November 1742, although the imprint says 1743: The Memoirs and Adventures of the Marquis de Bretagne, and Duc D'Harcourt: or, The Wonderful Vicissitudes of Fortune, Exemplified in the Lives of Those Noblemen. To Which is Added, The History of the Chevalier de Grieu and Moll Lescaut, an Extravagant Love-Adventure, "Printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-noster-Row."[23]

Cave continued to have difficulties selling the Memoirs of a Man of Quality. In April 1744 he began to use Joseph Collyer as his publisher and gave him unsold sheets of old publications to sell in fascicules, often under different titles.[24] The Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1744 (published in January 1745), under a running head of "Books publish'd periodically, January 1745," has the following entry: "XVI Memoirs of a man of quality. Giving an account of many surprizing adventures, in his travels thro' England, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The whole about fifteen numbers, at 4d. each. Collyer."[25] This effort at promotion also failed and Cave was still advertising the two volumes as late as 1753.[26]

Editions of various translations of Prévost's novel continued to be published in the eighteenth century. The General Advertiser for 28 April 1747 announced a new translation, Memoirs of a Man of Honour, printed for John Nourse. In fact, the translation and the preface are different from those found in the Cave and Erskine editions.[27] Then in 1770 a "second edition" of the Erskine translation was published in Dublin, printed for James Williams.[28]

More importantly, in 1770 "A NEW EDITION" of Memoirs of a Man of Quality, was published in London, printed for Francis Newbery.[29] This

is the translation originally published by Cave, with the preface to which Johnson contributed reprinted from the 1738 first edition, thus omitting the three revisions made for the 1742 second edition. This "third edition" of the preface has the usual compositorial variations: many of the capitals on substantives reduced to lower case, the "'d" of the past tense changed to "ed," and an occasional punctuation mark altered. Also in the 1770 edition, the third sentence of the first paragraph is changed from "this" to "our" in "Maxim which this Author lays down," and in the first sentence of the second paragraph "to" is omitted in "but never to contradict the Author's Meaning." None of these changes in the "third edition" need be attributed to Johnson.

In summary, Johnson's contributions to the Memoirs were the additions and, perhaps, revisions to the 1738 preface; the May 1740 letter to the Gentleman's Magazine, including the revisions to the passages from the 1738 preface quoted in the letter; and the revisions to the 1742 preface.

Notes