Andrew Moreton

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Andrew Moreton is a pseudonym used by Daniel Defoe in several pamphlets published between 1725 and 1729, proposing some new reflections on themes already discussed in Defoe's 1697 An essay upon projects . [1] Moreton is presented as a crotchety middle-class old gentleman complaining about the indecency of London social life in the latest years. Fulfilling his duty as an honest and concerned citizen, Moreton firmly advances possible reforms in order to improve the quality of life of all social classes. [2]

He soon became a controversial figure especially when parts of The Protestant Monastery were reissued in abridged form in other pamphlets such as: Chickens Feed Capons and No Fool like the Old Fool, and also rose protests from a family who believed themselves to have been described in the pamphlet. [3] Moreton became so famous that even A System of Magick was attributed to him in order to boost sales. [4] Defoe was quickly identified in 1725 by his opponents and subjected to personal attacks. Yet, he continued to use Andrew Moreton Esq. as a mask in the following writings. [5]

Pamphlets by Andrew Moreton

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Parochial Tyranny: Or, the House-Keeper's Complaint Against the Insupportable Exactions, and Partial Assessments of Select Vestries, &C is a 1727 pamphlet by Daniel Defoe. It deals with the corruption of parishes. Similarly to Every-body's Business, Is No-body's Business (1725), The Protestant Monastery (1726), Augusta Triumphans (1728) and Second Thoughts are Best (1729), it was published under the pseudonym of Andrew Moreton. Defoe did not sign his name to the majority of his works. He preferred them to be published anonymously or under one of his pen names. This choice was “sometimes” made “to conceal his authorship or to stimulate sales, but more characteristically to establish a point of view”.

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References

  1. Backscheider, P.R. (1989), Daniel Defoe: His Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 517. ISBN   0801845122.
  2. Backscheider, P.R. (1989). Daniel Defoe: His Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 517. ISBN   0801845122.
  3. Backscheider, P.R. (1989), Daniel Defoe: His Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 518. ISBN   0801845122.
  4. Backscheider, P.R. (1989), Daniel Defoe: His Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 518. ISBN   0801845122.
  5. Novak M.E. (2014), Transformations, Ideology, and the Real in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Other Narratives: Finding The Thing Itself, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN   9781611494860