ABSTRACT
William Combe, was born in Bristol and educated at Eton where he was the contemporary of the brilliant Whig politician, Charles James Fox and the notorious libertine and author of Vathek, William Beck- ford. Combe lived continuously beyond his means and was consequently plagued by debt throughout his life. Whilst in France he is said to have known Lawrence Sterne, who at the time was composing the second part of A Sentimental Journey. The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax were originally published separately. The first tour, ‘in search of the picturesque’ was published in Rudolph Ackermann’s Political Magazine in 1809 and then in book form in 1812. Tours two and three, ‘in search of consolation upon the death of his wife’, and ‘in search of a wife’ appeared respectively in 1820 and 1821.
