Poor Bastard: Henry Fielding’s Triumphant ‘Tom Jones’

Samuel Johnson Called It ‘Corrupt.’ Coleridge Called It ‘Wholesome.’ Who’s Right?

When Tom Jones first appeared in 1749, it had immediate fans and immediate foes. The first printing sold out before the ink was dry, and Henry Fielding’s masterpiece has never dropped out of print, nor have people stopped talking about it.

The massive novel, printed in six volumes, sold 10,000 copies in its first year, exhausting four printings—not count…