The Acquisitions Table: The History of Pamela or Virtue Rewarded

Richardson, Samuel.  The History of Pamela or Virtue Rewarded.  New York: N.C. Nafis, 1835.

This tale of a young woman’s rise from servant to a charitable and understanding wife of a wealthy man was a bestseller in the long eighteenth century. The frontispiece is a metal engraving of Pamela embracing her husband’s daughter from a previous relationship–pretty hot stuff for the early nineteenth century!  Nehemiah C. Nafis issued popular literature including fairy tales and songsters in the 1830s.

Published by

Laura Wasowicz

Curator of Children's Literature, American Antiquarian Society

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