Henry Fielding's comic novel The History of…
1749 CE
Often known simply as Tom Jones, the novel—among the earliest English prose works describable as such—is both a Bildungsroman and a picaresque novel.
Totaling 346,747 words, it is divided into eighteen smaller books, each preceded by a discursive chapter, often on topics unrelated to the book itself. It is dedicated to George Lyttleton.
Though lengthy, the novel is highly organized.
Although critic Samuel Johnson takes exception to Fielding's "robust distinctions between right and wrong", it becomes a best seller, with four editions being published in its first year alone.
Also this year, Fielding becomes magistrate at Bow Street, and first enlists the help of the Bow Street Runners, an early police force (eight men at first).
Tom Jones is generally regarded as Fielding's greatest book, and as a very influential English novel.
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