The first wit of the age

On the occasion of Hermann J. Real's seventy-fifth birthday, this collection honours a scholar whose contagious curiosity has been dedicated to the study of Jonathan Swift's life and works for the past four decades. The contributions cover multiple aspects of the Dean's writings as well as a number of eighteenth-century contexts. They not only celebrate the Director of the Ehrenpreis Centre at the Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat, Munster, the Editor of the annual 'Swift Studies', and the convener of six international Munster symposia on the Dean of St Patrick's, but they also pay homage to the mentor, colleague, and friend. At the same time, they reflect the enduring vitality of Swift studies, which it has been one of Hermann J. Real's greatest academic achievements to promote.