Tristram Shandy as Aesthetic Object

Abstract Laurence sterne published his masterpiece The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman in nine slender volumes in the final decade of his life, between 1759 and 1767. The first two volumes appeared in York, Dublin, and London by January 1760. On 25 March the advertisement for the second (London) edition proudly announced a frontispiece designed by William Hogarth. Volumes 3 and 4 (again with a frontispiece by Hogarth) appeared a year later, in January 1761, and in December of that same year volumes 5 and 6 came out, with the unusual announcement that “Every book is signed by the author.” And indeed, to protect his book from being pirated, Sterne signed all copies of the first and second (revised) editions of volume 5, and of the first editions of volumes 7 and 9 on the first text page: 12,750 signatures in a neat (and still perfectly legible) hand.