Preface" — illustration for "The Preface. In the Désobligeant," in Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, first published in 1768. Wood-engraving, uncaptioned headpiece, 3.9 cm high by 6.8 cm wide, top of p. 12. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated
It must have been observed by many a peripatetic philosopher, that Nature has set up, by her own unquestionable authority, certain boundaries and fences to circumscribe the discontent of man: she has effected her purpose in the quietest and easiest manner, by laying him under almost insuperable obligations to work out his ease, and to sustain his sufferings at home. It is there only that she has provided him with the most suitable objects to partake of his happiness, and bear a part of that burden which, in all countries and ages, has ever been too heavy for one pair of shoulders. Tis true we are endued with an imperfect power of spreading our happiness sometimes beyond her limits; but ’tis so ordered, that, from the want of languages, connections, and dependencies, and from the difference in education, customs, and habits, we lie under so many impediments in communicating our sensations out of our own sphere, as often amount to a total impossibility. ["Preface. In the Désobligeant," pp. 12-13]
Commentary
Johannot illustrates Yorick's wriing his preface to the journal of his Grand Tour with his writing implements: a quill and ink-bottle, a penknife, several leather-bound volumes (presumably one for France and the other for Italy), and a crinkled, well-studied map of France. One wonders if large bottle is cognac or merely water.
Bibliography
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Illustrated with one hundred engravings on wood, by Bastin and G. Nichols, from original designs by Jacque and Fussell. London: Joseph Thomas, 1841.
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. With 100 illustrations by Tony Johannot. London: Willoughby, 1857.
Turner, Katherine. "Notes." Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768). Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2010.
Last modified 20 September 2018