Life of the Author

A comic dialogue written in John Collier's idiosyncratic version of the 18th century South Lancashire dialect together with a collection of 19th century texts on Collier and his work. Egged on by Meary (Mary), Tummus (Thomas) recounts the series of misadventures that ensue when he makes a trip to Rochdale on an errand for his master. First published in 1746, the text grew over subsequent editions as Collier expanded the story, added a preface in which he berates publishers who had pirated his work, and inflated and amended his glossary. The text read here is the final version of the preface, dialogue and glossary, which appeared in an 1862 edition of Collier's works.

Collier's texts are followed by several accounts of Collier's life and commentaries on his work, Elijah Riding's 1860 'plain English' translation of the Tummus and Meary text, and three poems set at Collier's graveside in Rochdale. (Summary by Phil Benson)