THE HISTORY OF
POMPEY THE LITTLE
by
FRANCIS COVENTRY
Introduction
The History of Pompey the Little was a best-seller in the 1750's but
has been almost wholly forgotten. Purporting to tell the life of the eponymous
lap-dog, it is a series of vignettes of both high and low life; the high life
being that of various titled ladies, and the low including a beggar and a
starving poet, who in turn become his owners. Many of the ladies were believed
to be identifiable characters in the London of the time, though not everyone
agreed with the particular identifications. The style is light and easy to
read, and the vignettes of 18th-Century life, whether high or low,
both accurate and charming.
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