The Complete Novels of Mr. Samuel Richardson: The history of Clarissa Harlowe

Samuel Richardson first published Clarissa; or, the History of a Young Lady in 1748. Written in the epistolary form—a style Richardson pioneered—the novel centers on the tragic struggles of the virtuous Clarissa Harlowe against the predatory rake Robert Lovelace. The work emerged during the mid-eighteenth century when the novel was still finding its footing as a literary form, and Richardson’s innovation of internal, psychological storytelling profoundly influenced the development of the genre.

This particular volume is part of a collected set intended to preserve Richardson’s expansive narratives for posterity. The design aesthetic of these editions typically reflects the nineteenth-century Victorian desire to present foundational English literature in uniform, scholarly formats. While Richardson’s original manuscripts were celebrated for their moral intensity and emotional depth, these compiled editions were received by later generations as essential anchors of the eighteenth-century literary canon.