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Pamela, 1740 LI\. csplordtion of rhc histor!. of the ronunic no\ el in English begins ~vith Parilcla: 01; I zrttic f2cti)urdcd 740:~.tl-ie story of tl-ie iourrship. bctrothdl, \\.cdding, ~ n d triunlph of ldd!.'s nuid P,inlcl,i ,\ndre~vsto Mr. B, the m,istcr for ~vl-ionlshe ~vorks. Nonlin~ring ,I first no\ cl in English is drbitr~r!.. b ~ t l'at~li'la is oilc of tlle ~vorks11,illleil to th,it honor. \\'it11 it, S,imuel R i i h ~ r d s o n :I 6Sg-I 761;. ~lrcdcl\.J S L I ~ ~ C S S ~ ; ~ ~ London pr111tcr ,iilil cdltor, ,id~,ii~ced tl-ie il~l,illtyof pro\e fictlo~~, pro- \,idin$An cdrl!. i n s t ~ n i c of rhc csplor~rion of i h ~ r d i t c r r h ~ r the 11orel ~vo~llil b c c o ~ ~ ~ e ki1o~v11for. 1,111 \\',itt. ,111 i i ~ f l ~ ~ e i ~ t i ~ i l l-iistorim of the no\,cl in English, notes r h ~ t Riihdrdson dcpdrrcd from e,irlier, episodic plots "by b,ising l-iis norels on ,i siilgle ~ i r i o n . ,I iourrship" : I ii:'. The iourrship stor!. \\.auld bcio~llc ,i m,ilor force sl-i,iping tl-ie norel ill Ei-~glish,,ind ~vitl-i Palncla Riihdrdson brings rhc iourrship plot. \\.hiih is ro sd\. the rom,iilce ilorcl, iilto nlorc th,ii~prominence. H c n1,ikes it fcllllo~ls. If Palncla is not the first norel in Ei-~~lish, nor vet tl-ie first TOllldlliC no\cl, it is rhc first bcsr seller. Ir \\.AS A n inlmcdidrc scns,itioi~.Rich,irdsoi~ printed fire cditioils ill tl-ie elercil months hllo\\.ing rhc no\ cl's first dppCdrdl3iC in s o \ cnlbcr of 1740. ,\1,111 Dug,ild McKilIop. one of the first moderil critics ro bring Riih~rdson b ~ i k into iritiidl fcl\or, r!.pifics rhc no\ cl's reception: "It is s,ifc to scarrl-i,ir ,ilmost crcrvbodv . . re,id it. It bee,imc the fCishioi~, tl-ie best seller n-l-iicl-iit n-,is iomp~llsorv to dise~~ss" :Suril~lcl Rzc1:al-djail -f 3:. Its infltlcncc ~veilt berond ,i mcrc ilorelLPuinc1u ,ind P,imcl,i bec,inle J ~ ~ C I I ~ I I ~ C I I O I I , \ \ . h ~ t Ed\ C6 dnd Ki~llpcl.Riih~rdson'sbiogrdphcrs. id11 2 .. , "\oguc 119-i 3:'. It \\.AS t r ~ n s l ~ t c d ~ n d dddprcd for the srdgc. U n ~ u t h o rizcd sccl~wls ~ p p c ~ r c d . There \\.AS c\en J'atlli'la ~~lcrihdndisc-hns , ~ n d tt',iitlt>S~vere p,iillteil n.it1-i sccncs from tl-ie book. "md, of course, b,ibics- ,ind erei~tu,illr tl-ieir scrcr,il times Sre,it-Sr,ii~ddci~~t:l-itcrsL~rere ~l,il~icil ,ifter the heroii~c. Sinic its publii~rionin 1740,1'atlli.la h ~ s inspired fcrlcnt supporters, \\.ho i d I l l C to be i d l l ~ d Pd~llelists. stor!.. pcrhdps dpoir!.phdl. is told o f t h e ~ft;'it on so111c ninctccnth-ic~~t~~l>. English \ill,lgcrs \\,ho \\.ere hcdring Puir~clurecad,iloud: ';It 1eilgtl-i.n-l-iei~ the l-i,ipprturil of fortui~e ,irrircd n-hicl-i b r i i ~ ~ s the hero ,iild hcroii~e togcthcr ...tl-iecoilgreg,itioi~ were so delighted ,is to r,iisc ,i gre,it shout. ,and procurins tl-ie cl-iurch kcvs, ,ictu,illr set tl-ie ihurih bells ringing" :LIiKillop, "\\;.ddingM 31%; This rc,iirion is one i1.c mighr c s p ~ t to the h ~ p p \ . cnding of J rorlldnic no\ cl in \\,hiih,i l,ld\.'s nl,iid 'Pd111el~:~lldrricsher cnlplo!.cr :LIr. B:'. "mti-P,imclists l-i,ire bee11 present ill force from the beginning ,is n-ell. Hcnrr Ficldiilg inlmcdi,itclr n-rote S1:arilcla : I ~ + I : . ci p,irodv in n-l-iicl-i Ricl-i,irdson's sincere heroine is tr,insformcd into ,I schcmiilg trollot> ~ v h o S C ~ L I ~ C S ~ n d c n t r ~ p s B. no\\. kno\\m "Boob\.." , b\. , her scsudl \\.ilcs. Ficlding 'sskcptiiism dbout this Cindcrcll~, r~gs-to-riches,scr\~nt-to-Id\.-ofr h...

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