The Novels Of Samuel Richardson: Pamela

Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded was first published in 1740 and is widely considered one of the earliest examples of the modern English novel. Written in an epistolary format, the story follows a young maidservant who defends her virtue against the advances of her employer, eventually leading to their marriage. Its immense popularity at the time of release helped formalize the genre, though it also sparked a flurry of contemporary criticism and parody regarding its morality and class implications.

This specific edition is a modern reprint that seeks to preserve Richardson's original prose for contemporary readers and scholars. As part of a broader effort to keep 18th-century literature accessible, the publication serves as a standard reference for those studying the evolution of narrative structure and the development of the psychological novel, maintaining the legacy of Richardson’s experimental approach to interiority and character development.