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The protagonist, Tom Jones, is introduced to the reader as a ward of a liberal Somerset squire, appearing a generous but slightly wild and reckless boy. Misfortune, followed by many spirited adventures as he travels to London to seek his fortune, teach Tom wisdom to go with his good-heartedness.

The Second Edition of this Norton Critical Edition of Fielding’s great novel reprints the definitive fourth edition text (1749, dated 1750), "Carefully revis’d and corrected/By Henry Fielding, Esq;", the last in his lifetime.

The novel is fully annotated for undergraduate readers and is accompanied by a Textual Appendix and a map depicting Tom’s route to London.

As in the previous edition, "Contemporary Reactions" by such noteworthy commentators as Samuel Richardson, Samuel Johnson, and the Hill sisters provide rich historical context.

"Criticism" is a collection of fourteen interpretations of the novel spanning the years 1826–1990 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Forsyth, Kenneth Rexroth, R. S. Crane, John Preston, William Empson, Wayne C. Booth, Martin Battestin, Maaja A. Stewart, Eleanor N. Hutchens, Sean Shesgreen, Frederick W. Hilles, and Sheridan Baker.

Preface

The Text of Tom Jones

 Textual Appendix

 Map of Tom's Route to London

Contemporary Reactions

 Captain Lewis Thomas · [A Very Amazing Entertainment]

 Astraea and Minerva Hill · [A Double Merit]

 Samuel Richardson · [A Very Bad Tendency]

 "Orbilius" · An Examen of The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

 Anonymous · [Review of Pierre Antoine de la Place, Histoire de Tom Jones, ou L'Enfant Trouve]

 Anonymous · An Essay on the New Species of Writing Founded by Mr. Fielding

 Samuel Johnson · [Remarks on Fielding]

Criticism

 Samuel Taylor Coleridge · Notes on Tom Jones

 · [A Master of Composition]

 William Forsyth · Tom Jones, A Favorite of the Ladies

 Kenneth Rexroth · Tom Jones

 R. S. Crane · The Plot of Tom Jones

 John Preston · Plot as Irony: The Reader's Role in Tom Jones

 William Empson · Tom Jones

 Wayne C. Booth · "Fielding" in Tom Jones

 Martin C. Battestin · Fielding's Definition of Wisdom: Some Functions of Ambiguity and Emblem inTom Jones

 Maaia A. Stewart · Ingratitude in Tom Jones

 Eleanor N. Hutchens · O Attic Shape! The Cornering of Square

 Sean Shesgreen · The Moral Function of Thwackum, Square, and Allworthy

 Sheridan Baker · Bridget Allworthy: The Creative Pressures of Fielding's Plot

 Frederick W. Hilles · Art and Artifice in Tom Jones

 Henry Fielding · A Chronology

Selected Bibliography