Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus

The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus is a satirical work created by the Scriblerus Club, an 18th-century British literary society. The club's founding members included prominent Tory wits such as Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Thomas Parnell, and John Arbuthnot.

The primary goal of the Scriblerus Club was to mock pretentious scholarship and academic jargon through the character of Martinus Scriblerus, a fictional literary hack. The name "Scriblerus" was a derogatory term for a writer lacking talent. The Memoirs itself was a collaborative effort, with much of the writing beginning around 1713. While Pope is credited with originating the character, Arbuthnot is considered the main contributor and guiding force behind the work. The Memoirs were eventually published in 1741, after the deaths of most of the original collaborators.12