FIELDING, HENRY

born April 22, 1707, Sharpham Park, Somerset, Eng. died Oct. 8, 1754, Lisbon Henry Fielding, frontispiece to Fielding's Works (1st ed., 1762), engraving by James Basire novelist and playwright, who, with Samuel Richardson, is considered a founder of the English novel. Among his major novels are Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749). Additional reading Standard biographies include Wilber L. Cross, The History of Henry Fielding, 3 vol. (1918, reissued 1963); F. Homes Dudden, Henry Fielding: His Life, Works, and Times, 2 vol. (1952, reprinted 1966); Martin C. Battestin and Ruthe R. Battestin, Henry Fielding: A Life (1989); and Donald Thomas, Henry Fielding (1991). Other biographies are Pat Rogers, Henry Fielding: A Biography (1979); and Thomas R. Cleary, Henry Fielding, Political Writer (1984). Significant critical works include Martin C. Battestin, The Moral Basis of Fielding's Art: A Study of Joseph Andrews (1959, reissued 1975); and Andrew Wright, Henry Fielding: Mask and Feast (1965). Ronald Paulson and Thomas Lockwood (eds.), Henry Fielding: The Critical Heritage (1969), gathers important critical statements. See also John A. Stoler and Richard D. Fulton, Henry Fielding: An Annotated Bibliography of Twentieth-Century Criticism, 19001977 (1980).