Inflation is the increase in the prices of goods and services across an economy. When prices inflate, you need more money to buy the same things. The opposite of inflation is deflation, when prices are lower across a range of goods and services.
James Howell, a 17th century historian cum writer was the first writer to earn his living from writing alone in the English language; other writers of those times pursued writing as a hobby, not a profession as writing alone never paid enough.
A Library of Literary Interestingness. The First Gothic Novel. The early Gothic novelists are an interesting lot. Matthew Lewis, known for his 1796 novel The Monk, wrote his will on a servantâs hat while dying on board a ship from Jamaica to the UK. William Beckford wrote the bestselling Gothic novel Vathek in French in 1782, with the English version being translated by a vicar four years later.