William Combe
William Combe was a British miscellaneous writer. His early life was that of an adventurer, his later was passed chiefly within the "rules" of the King's Bench Prison. He is chiefly remembered as the author of The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax, a comic poem, illustrated by artist Thomas Rowlandson's colour plates, that satirised William Gilpin. Combe also wrote a series of imaginary letters, supposed to have been written by the second, or "wicked" Lord Lyttelton. Of a similar kind were his letters between Swift and "Stella". He also wrote the letterpress for various illustrated books, and was a general hack.
The History of Johnny Quæ Genus, the Little Foundling of the Late Doctor Syntax. A Poem by the Author of the Three Tours.
After the death of his caretakers, a strangely-named orphan faces a world of deceit as he seeks to find his own place in society.
By William Combe
An Heroic Epistle to the Right Honourable the Lord Craven (3rd Ed.)
Witness a noble lord's commitment to justice clash with the absurd expectations of his class in a society ripe with inequality.
By William Combe
The first of April; $b or, The triumphs of folly A poem dedicated to a celebrated duchess. By the author of The Diaboliad.
In a world where vanity reigns supreme, a poet finds himself at a wild festival celebrating all things absurd and foolish.
By William Combe