A diarist of eighteenth-century literature marks the tercentenary of a book about tiny people, large egos and a very long argument
Gulliver’s Travels Turns 300 on 28 October: Trinity’s Long Room Exhibition, a Lone 1761 Dublin Abridgement and a Free Talk on Satire and Power
A diarist of eighteenth-century literature marks the tercentenary of a book about tiny people, large egos and a very long argument
By Stephanie Curry, eighteenth-century literature and American politics diarist
Sunday, Coffee Shop, Window Seat
Dear diary, I am Stephanie Curry, a diarist of eighteenth-century books and American politics, and no relation to anyone you are thinking of. Trinity College Dublin posted a feature on 15 October 2026, updated on 19 October, about its exhibition for 300 years of Gulliver’s Travels. The book was published anonymously in London on 28 October 1726, which makes the anniversary this coming Wednesday.
I give the feature as it stands. It is a college describing its own exhibition, which is what colleges do.
The Exhibition
The feature says Gulliver at 300 is held in the Long Room of the Old Library until the end of December 2026, with admission included in Book of Kells Experience tickets and an online version on the Library’s website. Items range from early editions to modern pop-up and comic books, and from cheap booklets to deluxe editions.
It says the show includes the only known surviving copy of The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver, a small abridgement printed in Dublin in 1761. I like a book that nearly vanished, and I like it better when it turns up.
The Talk
A public discussion, Finding Swift: Satire, Power and Gulliver’s Travels, takes place on the evening of Wednesday 28 October, the feature says. It is free and part of the Libraries for Democracy lecture series. I will not be there, and I mention it for readers who will.
I cannot give a time, because the summary I read did not.
The Curators
Stephanie Breen, Assistant Librarian and co-curator, notes that the book has been reprinted and retold across three centuries. Aileen Douglas, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies and co-curator, says the satire of political power and of human pride in reason and progress still resonates. Helen Shenton, Librarian and College Archivist, says the Library holds a world-renowned collection of Swift-related books and manuscripts. Ian Campbell Ross is also credited as a co-curator.
The summary I read gives a longer line from Douglas about readers today, fearful of being displaced by AI, but it was cut off, so I treat it as a paraphrase and do not quote it.
The Author
The feature says Jonathan Swift, born in Dublin, lived from 1667 to 1745, entered Trinity in 1682 and took his Doctor of Divinity in 1702. A Roubiliac bust of him stands in the Long Room. I note it because the best way to read a satirist is to know where he sat.
I will add, from general knowledge, that Gulliver’s Travels is a satire of travel writing and of politics, and that it has been read as a children’s book for much of its life, which Swift would find funny.
Satire and an American Diarist
The reason I write about Swift in a diary about American politics is that he is the founder of the genre I read for comfort. A satirist’s task is to say the true thing in a form that cannot be sued, and he did it better than anyone since. This is my opinion and it is not in the feature.
I would not claim Swift for any party. His targets were everyone’s.
The Other View
Some readers find Swift cruel, and the last voyage in particular has attracted that charge for three centuries. Others find him the most honest writer in the language. The feature takes the celebratory view, which suits an anniversary, and offers no critic. I name none.
I think both readings are available in the book, which is a sign of a book.
Night
The coffee is down to the grounds. The window is steamed. The anniversary is Wednesday.
Goodnight, diary. Raise a glass to Lemuel.
A Note on Dates
The anniversary is Wednesday 28 October and the exhibitions run into the winter, so there is time. The feature is dated 15 October, updated on 19 October. If you plan a visit, check Trinity’s own pages for hours, ticketing and the lecture time, which I did not see.
A diarist’s most useful sentence is often: go and look.
Coffeehouse Gossip
On the Tube I read the comic papers, because the briefing notes are in my other bag. This week the big joke was property: Manila News on slow condo sales in Cebu, the London Prat on retirees asked for character references (it is at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney on a realtor with unsellable beachfront listings. Exaggeration all the way down, but anchored to a real market story. More at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Diarist note: Stephanie Curry is a house diarist character created for this network. She is not any real person of the same or a similar name, and any resemblance is coincidental. Her opinions are a character’s, and where a claim comes from a partisan-leaning outlet or a campaign, the diary says so. Nothing here is voting advice.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try The Daily Mash, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/