The London Jilt
Encyclopedia
The London Jilt; Or, the Politick Whore is an English
prose tale published anonymously in 1683, ostensibly relating the memoirs of a London
courtesan
. Part of the English tradition of the "Restoration rake
," the book, once attributed to Alexander Oldys, achieved popularity in both England and the American Colonies.
in steering that Course of Female Debauchery, which will inevitably prove at length thy utter Destruction." With a reference to the Book of Genesis, the anonymous author warns the male reader to "Avoid all their [i.e., the "Detestable Creatures"'] Cursed Allurement, and be mindful that a Snake lies concealed under such bewitching Appearances, and how beautiful and attractive soever the outside of the Apple may be, that it is Rotten and Pestilent at Core." Despite the author's moralistic stance, the narrative, according to Roger Thompson, is completely amoral.
The narrative itself features Cornelia, who, because her father has got into financial trouble, is forced to prostitute herself, along with her mother. She chooses, however, to become an independent sexual entrepreneur rather than to continue working from her mother's house or for another bawd. While she claims to be kept only by one man, Valere, who houses and pays her, she has in fact numerous other clients, each of whom thinks he is her only one. When she gets pregnant, she successfully convinces Valere that he is the father, and he rewards her financially. The child is stillborn, and she tells Valere she will only have another child if he grants her an annuity
; he dies twelve days after he signs the paperwork. After Valere's death, Cornelia takes on another lover, Philander, to whom she also offers a pregnancy.
(author of The English Rogue, 1665) and Francis Kirkman
, both famous for their roguish works, and "catering for a bawdy-minded bourgeois readership." Some scholars have claimed Alexander Oldys as the author, but as Charles Hinnant argues in his recent scholarly edition of The London Jilt, this was due to a bibliographer's confusion of this novel with Oldys' The Female Gallant, or The Female Cuckold (1692), which had as a variant title The London Jilt, or The Female Cuckold (p. 11).
In the United States, The London Jilt was part of what Jules Paul Seigel in The New England Quarterly
called "Puritan light reading," that is, the kind of literature enjoyed by Puritan
s in the New England
colonies. Roger Thompson's analysis of early American book auctions also attests to its popularity, and Theo Hermans states it was "all the rage in both England and America." It was one of the books ordered by the Boston bookseller John Usher specifically for Puritan minister Increase Mather
, and appears to have been enjoyed by other "Puritan Saints" as well. In fact, Usher's sales records listed two copies sold of The London Jilt, and James D. Hart
, in The Popular Book: A History of America's Literary Taste, surmises that it "would probably have sold more than two copies if Usher's reorder had not been returned marked 'out of print and not to be had.'"
tradition of bawdy literature, the book "stands comparison with" La Princesse de Clèves
(1678), generally regarded as the first European novel
. Hermans praises the female narrator's realistic description of the world and her "psychological elaboration." Other modern critics are less positive: while the book promises to expose the "'artifices and stratagems' of a London street girl," Jules Paul Seigel saw that as merely an excuse to relate a "string of low-life incidents"; he called the humor "unsophisticated and anal."
Modern feminist critics, however, have come to a different appreciation of the book and its main character: Melissa Mowry, in The bawdy politic in Stuart England, 1660-1714: political pornography and prostitution, praises Cornelia for successfully manipulating "the conventions of the heteronormative marketplace." The novel as also attracted attention from scholars of disfigurement and appearance: Cornelia's mother suffers from smallpox
, which grossly mars her face, making the book "an early example of many similar narratives presenting smallpox disfigurement as just punishment for over-reaching femininity," though scholars also note that the titular character herself does not suffer such a fate.
and German
. A second, corrected edition in English appeared in 1684.
The book was republished in 2008 by Broadview Press, edited by Charles H. Hinnant, based on a copy in the Harvard University Library
. This copy, bound in calf, was owned by Narcissus Luttrell
, an English historian and avid book collector, many of whose books ended up in the United States; he inscribed it "Nar. Luttrell His Book 1685."
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
prose tale published anonymously in 1683, ostensibly relating the memoirs of a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
. Part of the English tradition of the "Restoration rake
Rake (character)
A rake, short for rakehell, is a historic term applied to a man who is habituated to immoral conduct, frequently a heartless womanizer. Often a rake was a man who wasted his fortune on gambling, wine, women and song, incurring lavish debts in the process...
," the book, once attributed to Alexander Oldys, achieved popularity in both England and the American Colonies.
Content
Its introduction advertises the subject of the book, a prostitute and her tricks, as "set before thee as a Beacon to warn thee of the Shoales and Quick-sands, on which thou wilt of necessity Shipwrack thy All, if thou blindly and wilfully continuest and perseverestin steering that Course of Female Debauchery, which will inevitably prove at length thy utter Destruction." With a reference to the Book of Genesis, the anonymous author warns the male reader to "Avoid all their [i.e., the "Detestable Creatures"'] Cursed Allurement, and be mindful that a Snake lies concealed under such bewitching Appearances, and how beautiful and attractive soever the outside of the Apple may be, that it is Rotten and Pestilent at Core." Despite the author's moralistic stance, the narrative, according to Roger Thompson, is completely amoral.
The narrative itself features Cornelia, who, because her father has got into financial trouble, is forced to prostitute herself, along with her mother. She chooses, however, to become an independent sexual entrepreneur rather than to continue working from her mother's house or for another bawd. While she claims to be kept only by one man, Valere, who houses and pays her, she has in fact numerous other clients, each of whom thinks he is her only one. When she gets pregnant, she successfully convinces Valere that he is the father, and he rewards her financially. The child is stillborn, and she tells Valere she will only have another child if he grants her an annuity
Annuity (finance theory)
The term annuity is used in finance theory to refer to any terminating stream of fixed payments over a specified period of time. This usage is most commonly seen in discussions of finance, usually in connection with the valuation of the stream of payments, taking into account time value of money...
; he dies twelve days after he signs the paperwork. After Valere's death, Cornelia takes on another lover, Philander, to whom she also offers a pregnancy.
Authorship
The author is unknown. Roger Thompson, in a 1975 article published in the Harvard Library Bulletin, proposed that the author was to be sought in the school of Richard HeadRichard Head
Richard Head was an author, playwright and bookseller. He became famous with his satirical novel The English Rogue – one of the earliest novels in English that found a continental translation.-Life:The most important primary source on Head’s life is William Winstanley's biographical entry...
(author of The English Rogue, 1665) and Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman appears in many roles in the English literary world of the second half of the seventeenth century, as a publisher, bookseller, librarian, author and bibliographer...
, both famous for their roguish works, and "catering for a bawdy-minded bourgeois readership." Some scholars have claimed Alexander Oldys as the author, but as Charles Hinnant argues in his recent scholarly edition of The London Jilt, this was due to a bibliographer's confusion of this novel with Oldys' The Female Gallant, or The Female Cuckold (1692), which had as a variant title The London Jilt, or The Female Cuckold (p. 11).
Contemporary popularity
Hinnant, the book's most recent editor, concludes that The London Jilt must have been quite popular considering the widespread usage of the name in the title, which was incorporated, for instance, in the biography of a criminal woman.In the United States, The London Jilt was part of what Jules Paul Seigel in The New England Quarterly
The New England Quarterly
The New England Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal consisting of articles on New England's cultural, literary, political, and social history. The journal contains essays, interpretations of traditional texts, essay reviews and book reviews...
called "Puritan light reading," that is, the kind of literature enjoyed by Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
colonies. Roger Thompson's analysis of early American book auctions also attests to its popularity, and Theo Hermans states it was "all the rage in both England and America." It was one of the books ordered by the Boston bookseller John Usher specifically for Puritan minister Increase Mather
Increase Mather
Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
, and appears to have been enjoyed by other "Puritan Saints" as well. In fact, Usher's sales records listed two copies sold of The London Jilt, and James D. Hart
James D. Hart
James David Hart, CBE was an American literary scholar and professor at University of California, Berkeley for fifty-four years. He is most notable for writing The Oxford Companion to American Literature and A Companion to California.-Biography:Hart was born in San Francisco, California...
, in The Popular Book: A History of America's Literary Taste, surmises that it "would probably have sold more than two copies if Usher's reorder had not been returned marked 'out of print and not to be had.'"
Critical appreciation
According to Theo Hermans, who places The London Jilt in a European picaresquePicaresque novel
The picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...
tradition of bawdy literature, the book "stands comparison with" La Princesse de Clèves
La Princesse de Clèves
La Princesse de Clèves is a French novel which was published anonymously in March 1678. It is regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel, and as a great classic work. Its author is generally held to be Madame de La Fayette.The action takes place between...
(1678), generally regarded as the first European novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. Hermans praises the female narrator's realistic description of the world and her "psychological elaboration." Other modern critics are less positive: while the book promises to expose the "'artifices and stratagems' of a London street girl," Jules Paul Seigel saw that as merely an excuse to relate a "string of low-life incidents"; he called the humor "unsophisticated and anal."
Modern feminist critics, however, have come to a different appreciation of the book and its main character: Melissa Mowry, in The bawdy politic in Stuart England, 1660-1714: political pornography and prostitution, praises Cornelia for successfully manipulating "the conventions of the heteronormative marketplace." The novel as also attracted attention from scholars of disfigurement and appearance: Cornelia's mother suffers from smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, which grossly mars her face, making the book "an early example of many similar narratives presenting smallpox disfigurement as just punishment for over-reaching femininity," though scholars also note that the titular character herself does not suffer such a fate.
Editions
The book was printed by Henry Rhodes, who specialized in erotica. Soon after publication in England, the book was translated into FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. A second, corrected edition in English appeared in 1684.
The book was republished in 2008 by Broadview Press, edited by Charles H. Hinnant, based on a copy in the Harvard University Library
Harvard University Library
The Harvard University Library system comprises about 90 libraries, with more than 16 million volumes. It is the oldest library system in the United States, the largest academic and the largest private library system in the world...
. This copy, bound in calf, was owned by Narcissus Luttrell
Narcissus Luttrell
Narcissus Luttrell was an English historian, diarist, and bibliographer, and briefly Member of Parliament for two different Cornish towns...
, an English historian and avid book collector, many of whose books ended up in the United States; he inscribed it "Nar. Luttrell His Book 1685."