The Life of Mr Jonathan Wild the Great

First published in 1743, this ironic novel recounts the career of Jonathan Wild, thief-taker and controller of a London crime gang, as if it were the life of a great man. Fielding tracks Wild from apprenticeship in fraud through the fencing of stolen goods, the betrayal of partners, and his hold over the highwayman Heartfree, whose ruin is presented as a lesson in goodness versus greatness. Newgate, the gallows, and political cant supply the setting. The book is a satire that equates criminal success with public virtue, not a straight criminal biography.

Bound in white linen blocked with a brown pattern. Black leather spine label. White endpapers. Top page edge stained dark green. Grey or tan slipcase.