Charles Johnstone

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Charles Johnstone (c. 1719–1800) was an Irish novelist. Prevented by deafness from practising at the Irish Bar, he went to India, where he was proprietor of a newspaper. He wrote one successful book, Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, a somewhat sombre satire.

Life

Born at Carrigogunnel, County Limerick about 1719, he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, but is not known to have taken a degree. He was called to the bar, but extreme deafness prevented his practice except as a chamber lawyer, where he did not succeed. He began to write as a living.^[1]

In May 1782 Johnstone sailed for India, with a dangerous shipwreck on the voyage. He found employment in writing for the Bengal newspaper press, under the signature of "Oneiropolos". He became in time joint proprietor of a journal, and prospered. He died at Calcutta about 1800.^[1]

Works

Johnstone's major work, entitled Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, and frequently reprinted, appeared in 4 vols., London, 1760–5. The first and second volumes had been written during a visit to George Edgcumbe, 3rd Baron Edgcumbe in Devon. The book, a succès de scandale, claimed to reveal political secrets, and to expose the profligacy of well-known public characters.^[1]

Johnstone was also the author of:^[1]

The Reverie, or a Flight to the Paradise of Fools, 2 vols. London, 1762.
The History of Arbases, Prince of Betlis, 2 vols. 1774.
The Pilgrim, or a Picture of Life, 2 vols. 1775.
History of John Juniper, Esq., alias Juniper Jack, 3 vols. 1781.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Johnstone, Charles". Dictionary of National Biography 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Johnstone, Charles". Dictionary of National Biography 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

Works by or about Charles Johnstone in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Johnstone, Charles
Alternative names
Short description	Novelist
Date of birth	1719
Place of birth
Date of death	1800
Place of death

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