Chapter Ferguson to Fielding of F by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Summary.—Born 1707, educated Eton, studied law at Leyden, came to London and wrote dramas, called to Bar 1740, published Joseph Andrews 1742, became journalist, appointed a magistrate for Middlesex, etc., and published Inquiry into Increase of Robbers 1751, published Tom Jones 1749, Amelia 1751, died at Lisbon 1754.

His works are included in Ballantyne’s Novelists’ Library with a biography by Scott (1821). An edition in 10 vols. with a study by L. Stephen was published by Smith, Elder and Co. (1882); another in 12 vols. by Professor Saintsbury, Dent and Co. (1893), and various others. There are various Lives by Watson (1807), Lawrence (1855), and A. Dobson (Men of Letters, 1883).