Sterne - Sentimental Journey through France and Italy - 1778

STERNE 1778: A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY – LONDON EDITION
Elegant London edition of 1778 of A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, one of Laurence Sterne’s most celebrated works, published under the narrative mask of “Mr. Yorick.” First published in 1768, the book inaugurated a new way of telling the journey, privileging emotions, encounters, impressions, and psychology over mere geographical description. This “New Edition,” printed in London for T. Becket, comes in two volumes and preserves the charm of the early eighteenth-century editions of the work. A leather-bound copy, particularly suitable for a collection of English literature, travel narrative, and Grand Tour culture.

WHY TO BUY
One of Laurence Sterne’s foundational works and one of the texts that helped define European pre-Romantic sensibility.
EDITION SETTECENTECESCA – Printed in 1778, only ten years after the first edition of 1768.
DUE VOLUMI COMPLETI – The work retains the original two-volume editorial structure, highly valued by collectors.
“MR. YORICK” – Sterne published under the literary persona Yorick, a character already familiar to readers of Tristram Shandy, creating a strong continuity between his works.

MARKET VALUE
Centennial editions of A Sentimental Journey maintain steady interest in the antiquarian market, with wide variations in value based on date, binding, completeness, and state. For a 1778 two-volume “New Edition” in complete leather, a reasonable valuation can tentatively fall in the €300–500 range.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Leather bindings. 18th-century paper with browning and physiological foxing; traces of use to the bindings, with abrasions to boards, headcaps, and corners. In old books, with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. Refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the item. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp.:
Vol. I: (6); 2nn; 204; (6).
Vol. II: (6); 2nn; 208; (6).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy.
London, Printed for T. Becket, 1778.
Laurence Sterne.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy is one of the most important texts of eighteenth-century travel narrative. Sterne overturns the traditional Grand Tour model: instead of focusing on monuments, cities, itineraries, and erudite descriptions, he centers the traveler, his emotions, casual encounters, sympathy, desire, and subjective perception. The journey thus becomes an inner experience. The style, fragmentary, ironic, and highly personal, had enormous influence on European literature and helped give rise to the “sentimental” sensibility that would pave the way for Romanticism.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Laurence Sterne was born in 1713 in Ireland to an English family and became one of the most original writers of eighteenth-century Britain. After studies at Cambridge, he pursued a clerical career, but gained literary fame with The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, published from 1759. His writing, innovative, digressive, ironic, and experimental, anticipated many techniques of modern narrative. A Sentimental Journey, published in 1768, was his last major work. Sterne died in London in the same year as the book’s first edition.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first edition of A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy appeared in London in 1768 in two volumes and quickly achieved enormous popularity. In the following decade, numerous reprints and editions appeared, including the London edition of 1778 for T. Becket. The book was rapidly translated into French, German, Italian, and other European languages, becoming one of the most representative texts of the sentimental culture of the late eighteenth century. The designation “By Mr. Yorick” remained a hallmark of the book’s editorial tradition.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ESTC.
Lowndes, Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature.
Cross, The Life and Times of Laurence Sterne.
Howes, bibliographies of Sterne.
WorldCat.
British Library Catalogue.
Bibliographical guides on eighteenth-century English literature and Grand Tour narrative.