When it was determined to extend the present edition of Fielding, not
merely by the addition of Jonathan Wild to the three universally popular
novels, but by two volumes of Miscellanies, there could be no doubt
about at least one of the contents of these latter. The Journal of a
Voyage to Lisbon, if it does not rank in my estimation anywhere near to
Jonathan Wild as an example of our author's genius, is an invaluable and
delightful document for his character and memory. It is indeed, as has
been pointed out in the General Introduction to this series, our main
source of indisputable information as to Fielding dans son naturel, and
its value, so far as it goes, is of the very highest. The gentle and
unaffected stoicism which the author displays under a disease which he
knew well was probably, if not certainly, mortal, and which, whether
mortal or not, must cause him much actual pain and discomfort of a kind
more intolerable than pain itself; his affectionate care for his family;
even little personal touches, less admirable, but hardly less pleasant
than these, showing an Englishman's dislike to be "done" and an
Englishman's determination to be treated with proper respect, are
scarcely less noticeable and important on the biographical side than the
unimpaired brilliancy of his satiric and yet kindly observation of life
and character is on the side of literature. Many of the earliest books,
particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now
extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these
classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the
original text and artwork.
