SOURCE: "Fielding's Followers" in The Comic Spirit of Eighteenth-Century Novels, National University Publications, Kennikat Press, 1975, pp. 55-65.

In the following excerpt, Auty explores the differences between the first and third editions of Pompey the Little, demonstrating that Coventry was attempting to follow Fielding's example and differentiate the type of satire afforded by the novel from the satire of the earlier picaresque narratives.

Admiration for the spirit of Joseph Andrews and the happy inventiveness of Tom Jones, along with a hearty contempt for those who scorned novels as being "empty, trifling and impertinent," led Francis Coventry to offer his unashamedly mirthful (though anonymously published) work to the public in 1751. The welcome reception accorded The History of Pompey the Little, or, The Life and Adventures of a Lap-Dog, reflects the growing number of readers who were willing to accept a book merely for the hours of enjoyment it promised them...