Henry Fielding, 1749

FIELDING, Henry (1707-1754). The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. London: A. Millar, 1749.

Fielding's comic masterpiece; the first edition of volumes 1-5 and the second edition of volume 6. Dismissed by a contemporary reviewer as “a motley history of bastardism, fornication, and adultery,” it is now widely regarded as one of the most influential novels in the English language. It was so eagerly received by its first readers that four editions totaling 10,000 copies were called for in less than a year. Although Fielding in Tom Jones “vividly evokes a particular time and place, his true subject, he declares in the opening chapter, is nothing less than ‘HUMAN NATURE’; and his story, to borrow the compliment he paid Cervantes, is ‘the History of the World in general.’” See Battestin, Fielding Companion, p. 195; Cross III, pp. 122 and 316; Grolier English 48; Rothschild 85.

Six volumes, 12mo (164 x 95mm). Errata, blanks, and all cancelled leaves present. Contemporary calf (rebacked with original spines laid down, vol. 2 with chips at head, a little chipping along joints, vol. 3 rear board loose). Provenance: Pemberton (ownership inscription in vols 2-5) – Robert Dalrymple Horn Elphinstone (bookplates).