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Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

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included in the compilation of the Journal. - The<br />

Catalogue of Papers Printed by the Order of the House of<br />

Commons for the years encompassing Richardson's printing<br />

includes bills dealing with estate laws, inheritance<br />

laws, and marriage laws. Thus, Richardsonf s close<br />

association with the House of Commons and its Speaker,<br />

along with his familiarity with law and legal language,<br />

situate him comfortably in the heart of eighteenth-<br />

century inheritance practice and marriage settlement.<br />

William Sale explores other publications that<br />

Richardson was involved with, and the list is long and<br />

4<br />

varied regarding the subject of the law. One pamphlet,<br />

according to Sale, published anonymously in 1753,<br />

includes Richardsonf s own sentiment that "all men are<br />

beasts of prey" (Master Printer 203). Sale also mentions<br />

Richardsonf s association with both Tory and Whig<br />

periodical publications, which enhanced his ambivalence<br />

toward his own class, an ambivalence that had its<br />

ultimate expression, according to Sale, in the tension-<br />

filled relationship between <strong>Clarissa</strong> and Robert Lovelace<br />

Richardson was responsible for the printing and publications of<br />

many private books and pamphlets dealing with marriage, estates and<br />

inheritance practice. Sale details the nature and titles of these<br />

books in Samuel Richardson: Master Printer. The lengthy list of<br />

these titles only adds to the conviction that Richardson was well<br />

versed in the language, structure, and application of inheritance<br />

law.

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