GOLDSMITH, Oliver.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Life of Richard Nash, of Bath, Esq; First edition of this biography of the English dandy Beau Nash (1674-1762), Master of Ceremonies and "King of Bath", published the year of his death. Goldsmith, fascinated by Nash's eccentric character, examined his personal papers and collected anecdotes on his life as he was spending the summer of 1762 in the thermal town to recover from poor health."In some respects Nash's career had parallels with Goldsmith's. His humble entrance into Oxford as demi-commoner and his undistinguished academic record resembled Goldsmith's pattern at Trinity.... they both shared a benevolent temperament, good humour, and compulsive indulgence in fashion that could result in ludicrous situations.... It was a heroic achievement, Goldsmith implies, that Nash could turn a wildly heterogeneous collection of landed aristocrats, rich tradesmen, and sickly valetudinarians - besides gamblers, rakes, and crooks - into an orderly and even useful society. Given the character of his low mimetic subject Goldsmith's most difficult rhetorical task is to arouse the appropriate measure of sympathy with Nash as philanthropist. Although the anecdote about Nash's giving to gain friends while owing large sums to creditors confirms some suspicions about his motives, the major reversal in our expectations occurs when instead of false benevolence the subject reveals an ingenuous concern for the distressed, an inclination not likely in a beau, whose raison d'être, we are reminde

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