Emotional and Scribal Communities in the Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift

Abstract

We explore the affective typography of Jonathan Swift's faux-posthumous poem Verses on the Death of Dr Swift, in the first Dublin edition, printed by George Faulkner in 1739. Swift directly influenced the physical as well as the lexical content of the Faulkner edition, thus encouraging reader engagement on a number of levels. This edition literalises the satirical practice of inviting readers to identify disguised objects of criticism, by leaving actual blanks and space for readers' insertions into the text.