John Hall-Stevenson (1718-85), friend and college mate of Laurence Sterne and the “Eugenius” of Tristram Shandy, was galvanized into writing and publication by the meteoric success of Sterne. His second impetus was his friendship for John Wilkes and his admiration for Wilkes s most important satellite, Charles Churchill. From 1760 to 1783 he attempted to keep in the public eye with fables and fabliaux, verse epistles and satires, translations and imitations. Best known for Crazy Tales (1762), fabliaux ostensibly told by members of the “Demoniac” brotherhood at his own Skelton Castle, he developed a reputation for eccentricity and bawdry. Nevertheless, he was a man not only of a curious but also of a sound reading background, he was a classicist of some competence, and he could on occasion be an effective satirist. Though most often misdirected, his persistent efforts to interpret Sterne offer important comment on the milieu in which Tristram Shandy developed; and as a Wilkesite he was frequently able to make pungent comment on the personalities and issues of his era. (Includes as an appendix a bibliography of the works of Hall-Stevenson.)

Book Reviews Despite these criticisms, Dr. Smit's book can be hailed as one of the most important bibliographical tools made available in the history of medicine and of the biological sciences. It should be in every university library and library dealing with the history of science and of medicine.

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