The History of Tom Jones [antikvár]

Penguin Popular Classics TOM JONES by henry fielding Henry Fielding(i 707-54) • A prolific dramatist and writer, he is now best known for his brilliant satire which, while attacking the hypocrisy of society, often jibes at the work of his contemporary, Samuel Richardson. Bom in April 1707 at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury in Somerset, Henry Fielding was the son of General Edmund Fielding and Sarah Gould, a judge's daughter. The family soon moved to Dorset, where Fielding received his first lessons from private tutors. After his mother's death, when Fielding was eleven years old, and his father's subsequent remarriage he was sent to Eton. Enjoying his time here, he worked hard and made lifelong friends of his contemporaries Lyttleton, who later became a generous patron, and Pitt the Elder. In 1725 Fielding failed in his attempt to abduct a beautiful young heiress, which resulted in him being bound over to keep the peace. Settling in London, he was determined to earn his living as a dramtist. His first play. Love in Several Masques, was performed successfully in 1728. In the same year he attended the University of Leyden in order to study classical literature but he was forced to return eighteen months later when his allowance from his father dried up. Between the autimm of 1729 and 1737 Fielding Uved in London, writing some twenty-five dramatic pieces, including a series of topical satires lampooning Sir Robert Walpole's government. They led, in part, to the introduction of the Stage Licensing Act in 1737, which effectively drew his career as a playwright and theatre manager to a close. Turning to the law as an alternative career. Fielding smdied at the Middle Temple before being called to the bar in 1740. He soon remmed to writing when, in an attempt to support his family - Fielding had met, wooed and eloped with the beautiful Charlotte Cradock in 1734 - he began editing a periodical called The Champion. After the pubRcation of Richardson's Pamela in 1741 Fielding, angered by the moral hypocrisy of the novel, wrote Shamela, which ridiculed Richardson's work. He followed