An Autobiography: And Other Writings

Anthony Trollope

Oxford University Press, 2016 - Novelists, English - 328 pages

'I hated the office. I hated my work...the only career in life within my reach was that of an author.'

The only autobiography by a major Victorian novelist, Trollope's account offers a fascinating insight into his literary life and opinions. After a miserable childhood and misspent youth, Trollope turned his life around at the age of twenty-six. By 1860 the 'hobbledehoy' had become both a senior civil servant and a best-selling novelist. He worked for the Post Office for many years and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament. Best-known for the two series of novels grouped loosely around the clerical and political professions, the Barsetshire and Palliser series, in his Autobiography Trollope frankly describes his writing habits. His apparent preoccupation with contracts, deadlines, and earnings, and his account of the remorseless regularity with which he produced his daily quota of words, has divided opinion ever since.

This edition reassesses the work's distinctive qualities and includes a selection of Trollope's critical writings to show how subtle and complex his approach to literature really was.

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About the author

Anthony Trollope was born in London, England on April 24, 1815. In 1834, he became a junior clerk in the General Post Office, London. In 1841, he became a deputy postal surveyor in Banagher, Ireland. He was sent on many postal missions ending up as a surveyor general in the post office outside of London. His first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran, was published in 1847. His other works included Castle Richmond, The Last Chronicle of Barset, Lady Anna, The Two Heroines of Plumplington, and The Noble Jilt. He died after suffering from a paralytic stroke on December 6, 1882.

Bibliographic information

• Title: An Autobiography: And Other Writings; Oxford World's Classics Series, ISSN 2755-4058
• Author: Anthony Trollope
• Editor: Nicholas Shrimpton
• Edition: 2, reprint
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2016
• ISBN: 0199675295, 9780199675296
• Length: 328 pages