The Wesleyan edition of Tom Jones is widely acknowledged as the best available, and this new paperback reproduces the handsomely composed text and notes of that edition. A new Critical Introduction, a brief chronology of Fielding’s life, and a selected bibliography of relevant criticism especially designed for student use have been added. The map - A Geography of Tom Jones - has been retained, while the General and Textual Introduction and six bibliographical Appendices of the two volume clothbound edition have been omitted.

This edition offers a critical unmodernized text of Tom Jones. The text is critical in that it has been established by application of analytical criticism to the evidence of the various documentary forms in which the novel has appeared. It is unmodernized in that every effort has been made to present the text in as close a form to Fielding’s own inscription and final revision as the surviving documents permit, subject only to normal editorial regulations. - from the Textual Introduction