Download or read book Jonathan Swift and the Arts written by Joseph McMinn and published by University of Delaware Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Swift is a shrewd and humorous observer of the changing artistic and cultural scene in both Ireland and England, and his views on these changes in public taste are an important, albeit neglected, part of his biography. His correspondence, especially his Journal to Stella, shows us someone very aware of the various arts and of their lively emergence from the enclosed world of the Puritan era. Many of Swift's friends and acquaintances were serious collectors of paintings, sculpture, coins, medals and Swift himself eventually enjoyed an interesting and revealing collection of artistic artifacts, as this study shows.