English novel John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678) and Aphra Behn's "Oroonoko" (1688) are also contenders, while earlier works such as Sir Thomas Malory's "Morte d'Arthur", and even the "Prologue" to Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" have been suggested. Another important early novel is "Gulliver's Travels" (1726, amended 1735), by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, which is both a satire of human nature, as well as a parody of travellers' tales like "Robinson Crusoe". The rise of the novel as an important literary genre is generally associated with the growth of the middle class in England. Other major 18th-century English novelists are
The Sign of the Four with a British editor and British contributors. The dinner was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who eventually contributed "The Picture of Dorian Gray" to the July 1890 issue. Doyle discussed what he called this "golden evening" in his 1924 autobiography "Memories and Adventures". The novel first appeared in the February 1890 edition of "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine" as "The Sign of the Four; or The Problem of the Sholtos" (five-word title), appearing in both London and Philadelphia. The British edition of the magazine originally sold for a shilling, and the American for 25 cents. Surviving copies are now worth several thousand