The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom

Description

The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom, a novel by Tobias Smollett, was first published in 1753. As Smollett's third novel, it didn't achieve the same success as his earlier works. The story follows a villainous dandy who deceives, swindles, and womanizes his way across Europe and England, showing little regard for the law or the well-being of others. He is the son of a similarly disreputable mother, prompting Smollett to observe that 'Fathom justifies the proverb, 'What's bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh.'' Sir Walter Scott remarked that the novel offers a 'complete picture of human depravity.' Ferdinand Fathom later appears as a minor character in Smollett's subsequent novel, 'The Expedition of Humphry Clinker.' The novel's elements of terror and the supernatural have led some literary historians to view it as a precursor to Gothic fiction.

This book has 160,704 words, 265 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1753.

Production notes: This ebook of The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom was published by Global Grey on the 15th July 2024. The artwork used for the cover is 'David Garrick with his wife Eva-Maria Veigel' by William Hogarth.