History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding — Bibliomancer edition cover
Read free online

Free to read online. No account needed.

Fiction · 1749

History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Henry Fielding

Reading time
about 25 h
Length
347,442 words · 798 pages
Structure
211 chapters · 2 front-matter sections
Language
English
Era
Enlightenment

Squire Allworthy finds an infant boy in his own bed one night and raises him as his own, alongside his sister's legitimate son, the sanctimonious Blifil, who never lets him forget it. Tom grows up goodhearted, impulsive, and hopelessly in love with the neighboring squire's daughter, Sophia Western. When Blifil's scheming gets him cast out, Tom sets off for London, and Sophia, refusing to marry the man her father has chosen, runs off after him.

Fielding published The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling in 1749; it is regarded as one of the first great comic novels in English, celebrated for its intricate plotting and its narrator's running commentary on the art of novel-writing itself.

Bibliomancer restores the 1749 text exactly as Fielding wrote it.

Contents

  1. Dedication
  2. Introductory
  3. Book I
  4. Chapter I — The introduction to the work, or bill of fare to the feast
  5. Chapter II
  6. Chapter III
  7. Chapter IV
  8. Chapter V
  9. Chapter VI
  10. Chapter VII
  11. Chapter VIII
  12. Chapter IX
  13. Chapter X
  14. Chapter XI
  15. Chapter XII
  16. Chapter XIII
  17. Book II
  18. Chapter I
  19. Chapter II
  20. Chapter III
  21. Chapter IV
  22. Chapter V
  23. Chapter VI
  24. Chapter VII
  25. Chapter VIII
  26. Chapter IX
  27. Book III
  28. Chapter I — Containing little or nothing
  29. Chapter II
  30. Chapter III
  31. Chapter IV
  32. Chapter V
  33. Chapter VI
  34. Chapter VII
  35. Chapter VIII
  36. Chapter IX
  37. Chapter X
  38. Book IV — Containing the Time of a Year
  39. Chapter I — Containing five pages of paper
  40. Chapter II
  41. Chapter III
  42. Chapter IV
  43. Chapter V — Containing matter accommodated to every taste
  44. Chapter VI
  45. Chapter VII
  46. Chapter VIII
  47. Chapter IX
  48. Chapter X
  49. Chapter XI
  50. Chapter XII
  51. Chapter XIII
  52. Chapter XIV
  53. Book V — Containing a Portion of Time Somewhat Longer Than Half a Year
  54. Chapter I
  55. Chapter II
  56. Chapter III
  57. Chapter IV
  58. Chapter V
  59. Chapter VI
  60. Chapter VII
  61. Chapter VIII — Containing matter rather natural than pleasing
  62. Chapter IX
  63. Chapter X
  64. Chapter XI
  65. Chapter XII
  66. Book VI — Containing About Three Weeks
  67. Chapter I — Of love
  68. Chapter II
  69. Chapter III — Containing two defiances to the critics
  70. Chapter IV — Containing sundry curious matters
  71. Chapter V
  72. Chapter VI
  73. Chapter VII
  74. Chapter VIII — The meeting between Jones and Sophia
  75. Chapter IX
  76. Chapter X
  77. Chapter XI
  78. Chapter XII — Containing love-letters, &c
  79. Chapter XIII
  80. Chapter XIV
  81. Book VII — Containing Three Days
  82. Chapter I
  83. Chapter II
  84. Chapter III — Containing several dialogues
  85. Chapter IV
  86. Chapter V
  87. Chapter VI — Containing great variety of matter
  88. Chapter VII
  89. Chapter VIII
  90. Chapter IX
  91. Chapter X
  92. Chapter XI
  93. Chapter XII
  94. Chapter XIII
  95. Chapter XIV
  96. Chapter XV — The conclusion of the foregoing adventure
  97. Book VIII — Containing About Two Days
  98. Chapter I
  99. Chapter II
  100. Chapter III
  101. Chapter IV
  102. Chapter V
  103. Chapter VI
  104. Chapter VII
  105. Chapter VIII
  106. Chapter IX
  107. Chapter X
  108. Chapter XI
  109. Chapter XII
  110. Chapter XIII
  111. Chapter XIV
  112. Chapter XV
  113. Book IX — Containing Twelve Hours
  114. Chapter I
  115. Chapter II
  116. Chapter III
  117. Chapter IV
  118. Chapter V
  119. Chapter VI
  120. Chapter VII
  121. Book X — In Which the History Goes Forward About Twelve Hours
  122. Chapter I
  123. Chapter II
  124. Chapter III
  125. Chapter IV
  126. Chapter V
  127. Chapter VI
  128. Chapter VII
  129. Chapter VIII — In which the history goes backward
  130. Chapter IX — The escape of Sophia
  131. Book XI — Containing About Three Days
  132. Chapter I — A crust for the critics
  133. Chapter II
  134. Chapter III
  135. Chapter IV — The history of Mrs Fitzpatrick
  136. Chapter V
  137. Chapter VI
  138. Chapter VII
  139. Chapter VIII
  140. Chapter IX
  141. Chapter X
  142. Book XII — Containing the Same Individual Time with the Former
  143. Chapter I
  144. Chapter II
  145. Chapter III
  146. Chapter IV — The adventure of a beggar-man
  147. Chapter V
  148. Chapter VI
  149. Chapter VII
  150. Chapter VIII
  151. Chapter IX
  152. Chapter X
  153. Chapter XI
  154. Chapter XII
  155. Chapter XIII — A dialogue between Jones and Partridge
  156. Chapter XIV
  157. Book XIII — Containing the Space of Twelve Days
  158. Chapter I — An Invocation
  159. Chapter II
  160. Chapter III
  161. Chapter IV — Which consists of visiting
  162. Chapter V
  163. Chapter VI
  164. Chapter VII
  165. Chapter VIII
  166. Chapter IX
  167. Chapter X
  168. Chapter XI
  169. Chapter XII
  170. Book XIV — Containing Two Days
  171. Chapter I
  172. Chapter II
  173. Chapter III — Containing various matters
  174. Chapter IV
  175. Chapter V
  176. Chapter VI
  177. Chapter VII — The interview between Mr Jones and Mr Nightingale
  178. Chapter VIII
  179. Chapter IX — Containing strange matters
  180. Chapter X
  181. Book XV — In Which the History Advances About Two Days
  182. Chapter I — Too short to need a preface
  183. Chapter II
  184. Chapter III
  185. Chapter IV
  186. Chapter V
  187. Chapter VI
  188. Chapter VII
  189. Chapter VIII — Short and sweet
  190. Chapter IX — Containing love-letters of several sorts
  191. Letter I
  192. Letter II
  193. Letter III
  194. Chapter X
  195. Chapter XI — Containing curious, but not unprecedented matter
  196. Chapter XII — A discovery made by Partridge
  197. Book XVI — Containing the Space of Five Days
  198. Chapter I — Of prologues
  199. Chapter II
  200. Chapter III
  201. Chapter IV
  202. Chapter V
  203. Chapter VI
  204. Chapter VII
  205. Chapter VIII — Schemes of Lady Bellaston for the ruin of Jones
  206. Chapter IX
  207. Chapter X — The consequence of the preceding visit
  208. Book XVII — Containing Three Days
  209. Chapter I — Containing a portion of introductory writing
  210. Chapter II
  211. Chapter III
  212. Chapter IV
  213. Chapter V — Mrs Miller and Mr Nightingale visit Jones in the prison
  214. Chapter VI
  215. Chapter VII
  216. Chapter VIII — Containing various matters
  217. Chapter IX — What happened to Mr Jones in the prison
  218. Book XVIII — Containing About Six Days
  219. Chapter I — A farewel to the reader
  220. Chapter II — Containing a very tragical incident
  221. Chapter III
  222. Chapter IV
  223. Chapter V — In which the history is continued
  224. Chapter VI — In which the history is farther continued
  225. Chapter VII — Continuation of the history
  226. Chapter VIII — Further continuation
  227. Chapter IX — A further continuation
  228. Chapter X
  229. Chapter XI
  230. Chapter XII — Approaching still nearer to the end
  231. Chapter the last — In which the history is concluded

New editions

Never lose your place.

This book is free to read in full, and stays that way. Leave an address: one click confirms it and opens a free account, so your progress and bookmarks sync across every device. You'll also hear when the next restored edition enters the archive. Terminate at any time.

Confirming opens a free account under the terms and privacy policy.

About this edition

The text is free of copyright. This edition was prepared from an authoritative digitisation, processed by Bibliomancer under its own review protocol; every automated correction is recorded in its transformation log. Rights assessed for CA, EU, GB, US.

Source mind

About the author

Henry Fielding

1707–1754 · Enlightenment

Henry Fielding (1707–1754) was born at Sharpham Park in Somerset and educated at Eton; he wrote more than two dozen plays for the London stage until the Licensing Act of 1737 closed off that career, then trained as a barrister and turned to fiction, publishing the parody Shamela (1741), Joseph Andrews (1742) and The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749). As London's chief magistrate he founded the Bow Street Runners with his half-brother John in 1749. Worn out by gout and dropsy, he sailed for Lisbon in 1754 to recover his health, died there that October, and left an account of the voyage published posthumously as The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon (1755).

Adjacent records

If you enjoy History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Open the archive
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë — Bibliomancer edition cover

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

1847 · 13.5 h read

平妖傳 by Luo Guanzhong, Feng Menglong — Bibliomancer edition cover

平妖傳

Luo Guanzhong, Feng Menglong

1620 · 14.5 h read