The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.

The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.

The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barry Lyndon
by William Makepeace Thackeray (#27 in our series by William Makepeace Thackeray)
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Title: Barry Lyndon
Author: William Makepeace Thackeray
Release Date: October, 2003 [Etext #4558] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on February 10, 2002]

Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray
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BARRY LYNDON
FROM THE WORKS OF
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
EDITED BY WALTER JERROLD

CONTENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
I.--MY PEDIGREE AND FAMILY--UNDERGO THE INFLUENCE OF THE TENDER
PASSION
II.--IN WHICH I SHOW MYSELF TO BE A MAN OF SPIRIT
III.--I MAKE A FALSE START IN THE GENTEEL WORLD
IV.--IN WHICH BARRY TAKES A NEAR VIEW OF MILITARY GLORY
V.--IN WHICH BARRY TRIES TO REMOVE AS FAR FROM MILITARY GLORY
AS POSSIBLE

VI.--THE CRIMP WAGGON--MILITARY EPISODES
VII.--BARRY LEADS A GARRISON LIFE, AND FINDS MANY FRIENDS THERE
VIII.--BARRY BIDS ADIEU TO THE MILITARY PROFESSION
IX.--I APPEAR IN A MANNER BECOMING MY NAME AND LINEAGE
X.--MORE RUNS OF LUCK
XI.--IN WHICH THE LUCK GOES AGAINST BARRY
XII.--CONTAINS THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF THE PRINCESS OF X-----
XIII.--I CONTINUE MY CAREER AS A MAN OF FASHION
XIV.--I RETURN TO IRELAND, AND EXHIBIT MY SPLENDOUR AND
GENEROSITY IN THAT KINGDOM
XV.--I PAY COURT TO MY LADY LYNDON
XVI.--I PROVIDE NOBLY FOR MY FAMILY, AND ATTAIN THE HEIGHT OF MY
(SEEMING) GOOD FORTUNE
XVII.--I APPEAR AS AN ORNAMENT OF ENGLISH SOCIETY
XVIII.--IN WHICH MY GOOD FORTUNE BEGINS TO WAVER
XIX.--CONCLUSION

BARRY LYNDON
A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Barry Lyndon--far from the best known, but by some critics acclaimed as the finest, of
Thackeray's works--appeared originally as a serial a few years before VANITY FAIR
was written; yet it was not published in book form, and then not by itself, until after the
publication of VANITY FAIR, PENDENNIS, ESMOND and THE NEWCOMES had
placed its author in the forefront of the literary men of the day. So many years after the
event we cannot help wondering why the story was not earlier put in book form; for in its
delineation of the character of an adventurer it is as great as VANITY FAIR, while for
the local colour of history, if I may put it so, it is no undistinguished precursor of
ESMOND.
In the number of FRASER'S MAGAZINE for January 1844 appeared the first instalment
of 'THE LUCK OF BARRY LYNDON, ESQ., A ROMANCE OF THE LAST
CENTURY, by FitzBoodle,' and the story continued to appear month by month--with the

exception of October--up to the end of the year, when the concluding portion was signed
'G. S. FitzBoodle.' FITZBOODLE'S CONFESSIONS, it should be added, had appeared
occasionally in the magazine during the years immediately precedent, so that the
pseudonym was familiar to FRASER'S readers. The story was