Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding
In 1742, Henry Fielding stepped away from the stage, where political censorship had silenced his sharpest satires, to claim a new territory in prose. He…
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In 1742, Henry Fielding stepped away from the stage, where political censorship had silenced his sharpest satires, to claim a new territory in prose. He described his ambitious project as a "comic epic poem in prose," a label that signals a deliberate fusion of classical grandeur with the gritty, everyday reality of eighteenth-century England. This was a time when the novel was still finding its voice, and Fielding sought to elevate the form by treating humble characters with the same dignified attention usually reserved for heroes. The narrative centers on Joseph, a footman whose integrity is tested by a world of aristocratic pretension and moral ambiguity. Accompanied by the lovable, intellectually vast, yet financially oblivious Parson Adams, the journey becomes a canvas for observing the social landscape. Fielding’s prose is conversational and self-aware, inviting the reader into a shared conversation about virtue, appearance, and the nature of comedy. It is a work that rewards slow attention, where the digressions are as vital as the plot.
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Public domain & narration
Joseph Andrews was first published in 1742. Works first published before 1931 are in the public domain in the United States, so the text is free to read, share and adapt. The edition shown here comes from Project Gutenberg, which publishes only books that are in the US public domain.
The narration is the LibriVox recording read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015). LibriVox volunteers dedicate their recordings to the public domain.
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Chapters
- Chapter 1: 00 - Preface (19:28) · watch
- 01 - Book I, Chapters 1 & 2 (13:40) · watch
- 02 - Book I, Chapters 3 & 4 (17:02) · watch
- 03 - Book I, Chapters 5 & 6 (21:21) · watch
- 04 - Book I, Chapters 7 & 8 (26:49) · watch
- 05 - Book I, Chapters 9 & 10 (18:08) · watch
- 06 - Book I, Chapters 11 & 12 (28:25) · watch
- 07 - Book I, Chapters 13 & 14 (29:12) · watch
- 08 - Book I, Chapters 15 & 16 (41:14) · watch
- 09 - Book I, Chapters 17 & 18 (27:31) · watch
- 10 - Book II, Chapters 1, 2 & 3 (44:13) · watch
- 11 - Book II, Chapter 4 (51:06) · watch
- 12 - Book II, Chapters 5 & 6 (39:36) · watch
- 13 - Book II, Chapters 7 & 8 (17:39) · watch
- 14 - Book II, Chapters 9 & 10 (29:33) · watch
- 15 - Book II, Chapters 11 & 12 (32:26) · watch
- 16 - Book II, Chapters 13, 14 & 15 (47:51) · watch
- 17 - Book II, Chapters 16 & 17 (44:20) · watch
- 18 - Book III, Chapters 1 & 2 (46:04) · watch
- 19 - Book III, Chapter 3, Part 1 (39:31) · watch
- 20 - Book III, Chapter 3, Part 2 (40:31) · watch
- 21 - Book III, Chapters 4 & 5 (26:37) · watch
- 22 - Book III, Chapter 6 (30:15) · watch
- 23 - Book III, Chapters 7 & 8 (37:41) · watch
- 24 - Book III, Chapters 9 & 10 (25:54) · watch
- 25 - Book III, Chapters 11, 12 & 13 (39:39) · watch
- 26 - Book IV, Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4 (37:28)
- 27 - Book IV, Chapters 5 & 6 (35:21)
- 28 - Book IV, Chapters 7 & 8 (42:06)
- 29 - Book IV, Chapters 9 & 10 (29:34)
- 30 - Book IV, Chapters 11 & 12 (17:31)
- 31 - Book IV, Chapters 13 & 14 (32:23)
- 32 - Book IV, Chapters 15 & 16 (29:23)
Full text
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