UNRECORDED CHAPBOOK EDITION: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Who was Born in Newgate... Was Twelve Years a Whore; Five Times a Wife (Whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve hyears a Thief, Eight years a Transported Felon to Viriniga, at Last Grew Rich, Lived Honestly and Died a Penitent

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Small format bound in blue stamped cloth over bevel-edged boards. Title in faded gilt to the upper cover and spine with the (surely very high?) price of 7s 6d. Edges of text block stained red. Paper lining to inner hinges; original endpapers a little chipped to foreedge. The title page reproduces the original 1722 working via Charles Reynell’s 1840 reprint, copying Reynell’s erroneous reference fo ‘T Eddin’ as the second publisher after Chetwood. Collates: [2] vi, pp 408, concluding with a 4 page appendix; a printing fault to p102 means that a blank space exists at the lower outer corner of this page where the text hasn’t printed. Final endpaper nibbled to the corners.

CONTEXT: In its original form Moll Flanders is regarded as one of the earliest novels in English, a picaresque exploration of poverty, crime, class and gender. All early editions of Moll Flanders are rare in commerce and the bawdy content of the novel ensured that between 1800 and 1850 the novel wasn't reprinted at all in its original form. This text which appeared in the mid 19th century would have made available a story which, in Liz Bellamy’s words, was 'slipping into folklore and popular culture' through the medium of chapbooks. Moll Flanders' transgressive female heroine and problematic narrative; the novel's narrative of crime, sex-work and transportation and its challenge to notions of authority have attracted intense critical attention in recent years.