Archibald Campbell (satirist) facts for kids

Archibald Campbell (born around 1767) was a Scottish writer known for his funny and critical writings, called satires. He liked to make fun of the writing styles of famous authors of his time.

Who Was Archibald Campbell?

A Life of Books and Travel

Archibald Campbell was the son of a philosopher, also named Archibald Campbell. The younger Archibald loved books and learning. He once said he had "all his lifetime dabbled in books."

He became a purser on a man-of-war, which was a large warship. This meant he traveled a lot and lived "a wandering and unsettled life" at sea.

Around 1745, a famous writer named William Falconer, who wrote a poem called The Shipwreck, worked as Campbell's servant on the same ship. Campbell helped Falconer with his education.

His Main Writings

Around 1760, during a long sea journey, Campbell read a popular series of essays called The Rambler. Later, while staying in Pensacola, he wrote two of his own books: Lexiphanes and Sale of Authors.

He kept these books as manuscripts for two years until he returned to England.

Lexiphanes

Lexiphanes, a Dialogue in imitation of Lucian was published without his name in March 1767. Its goal was to "correct as well as expose the affected style" of writers like Samuel Johnson, who wrote The Rambler. Campbell called Johnson "the great corrupter of our taste and language." He said he tried to "hunt down this great unlick'd cub."

Sale of Authors

His second book, Sale of Authors, came out in June of the same year. In this book, Campbell pretended to put famous writers up for auction. He included "sweetly plaintive Gray" along with others like Whitefield, Hervey, Sterne, and Hoyle. The idea was to show how good they were as writers compared to each other.