Adelaide and Theodore was written as an epistolary novel on the contentious topic of female education. In 1783, The English Review called it “the best system of education ever published in France.” According to literary critic Gillian Dow, the book draws some integral concepts from Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Emile.

Fielding’s novel Amelia explores the marriage between a husband and his wife Amelia, who Fielding illustrates with ideal feminine traits and characteristics. According to literary critics, this particular work reflects Fielding’s lamentations over the passing of his wife, and, perhaps because of its somber nature, did not receive nearly the limelight that did Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews.

A Universal History, from the Beginning of the World, to the Empire of Charlemagne, originally written in French, was part of Bossuet's educating of the Dauphin, the son of King Louis XIV.

A View of Society and Manners in Italy; a travel narrative. 

Camilla: or a Picture of Youth has been labeled prime example of the “courtesy-novel,” which combines the characteristics of a standard novel (plot, characters) with those of a courtesy book, which during the eighteenth century, served as educational materials on socially preferable female conduct and manners.

Cecilia is Burney’s second novel, published in 1782, and like Evelina, illustrates the struggles of learning social manners in eighteenth century London from the perspective of a young woman who falls in love. 

“Charlotte Smith.” The Poetry Foundation. Accessed August 8, 2017. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/charlotte-smith. 

"Edward Gibbon." Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Last modified January 28, 2001. http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/gibbon_e/gibbon_e.html. 

Emmeline is Smith’s first novel, published in 1788, and serves as a borderline feminist critique of the 18th century legal system and its negligible attitudes towards women. Throughout Emmeline, Smith additionally warns her readers of the detriments of rushing engagements. 

Evelina, an epistolary novel of Burney’s, depicts the story of a young rural girl navigating social politeness and manners of high society in the eighteenth century in a series of situations with various characters.

Edward Francisco Burney, Print of 1782. 1782. From: New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Antoine Posno, Frederick as Crown Prince. 1739. Portrait. Web Gallery of Art. From: Web Gallery of Art, http://www.wga.hu/index.html.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Henry Fielding, Novelist. 1740. Hulton Archive, http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/circa-1740-henry-fielding-english-novelist-original-artwork-news-photo/51242742#circa-1740-henry-fielding-english-novelist-original-artwork-engraving-picture-id51242742. 

Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jacques Benigne Bossuet. 1698. Oil on canvas. Uffizi Gallery, Tuscany. From: All Posters, http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?startat=/getPoster.asp&CID=C208C6E1931040E4BF97BB86371CF38E&frameSku=4047263_4986654-981904. 

Jean Preudhomme, Portrait of Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton, on his Grand Tour with his physician Dr John Moore and the latter's son John. Mid-eighteenth century. National Museums of Scotland, Scotland. From the National Museums of Scotland, http://www.nms.ac.uk/ (accessed August 1, 2017). 

Fielding wrote Joseph Andrews in response to Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, which, interestingly enough, the founders also borrowed a number of times from the NYSL. Joseph Andrews plays the brother of Pamela Andrews, the protagonist of Richardson’s Pamela. Like Tom Jones, Fielding paints an unfailingly humorous love story, riddled with obstacles to breezy, effortless romance. 

Marchmont was heralded by both The Critical Review and The Monthly Visitor as another emblem of Smith’s excellence, in which Smith narrates the progression of hero Marchmont and heroine Althea’s romance. Although Marchmont seeks to escape his creditors by fleeing England (which parallels real events in Smith’s life), Smith depicts him as a man of unquestionable moral character. Althea demonstrates her own heroism by choosing to love Marchmont through his troubles, leading him to return to England and face arrest. 

In Mordaunt, Dr. Moore fabricates a series of letters to mimic the customs and history of the eighteenth century. 

Rash Vows, or, the effects of enthusiasm outlines the tale of the slight and widowed Lady Clarendon and the Marquis de Sainville, who has grown bitter and passionless. Lady Clarendon shares a secret love with M. de Sainville, but vowed in the aftermath of Lord Clarendon’s death that she would not love a second man. After a melancholy departure, Lady Clarendon returns and confesses that she will be M. de Sainville’s, regardless of her previous vows. M. de Sainville reveals that he is a Knight of Saint John and thus cannot marry.

Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine, Portrait of Madame de Genlis. 18th century. Oil on canvas, 64.6 × 53.3 cm. From: Art Experts Website, http://www.artexpertswebsite.ca/pages/artists/lemoine.php

The Adventures of Roderick Random is described as a picaresque novel, showcasing the life of Roderick Random, in which he travels the world and its seas, entertains several romantic encounters, finds his father, and eventually marries.

Another of Smollett’s works written in the picaresque tradition, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker differs slightly from typical picaresque style with its epistolary characteristic. In Smollett’s fashion, he illuminates the complex, romance-infused travels of a group of relatives and their adventures around Britain, in a series of letters addressed to friends of the family. 

The History and Adventures of an Atom describes tales of ancient Japan in relation to British history and society from the perspective of an atom, who has occupied the minds and bodies of previous prominent leaders. With a heavy hand and unapologetically, Smollett tactfully sprinkles satire throughout the story to offer a political critique of England’s strategies and behavior during the Seven Years’ War.

The book divides into two halves; the first half covers about 300 years, and although the second half crams in 1,000 years of history, it is considered some of Gibbon’s best work. Gibbon had a method of recording historical happenings as if he were anticipating modern techniques of learning and acquiring history. 

The Knights of the Swan: Or, the Court of Charlemagne has been regarded by scholars as culturally significant for its explanations of the bases of civilization.

In The Old Manor House, Smith creates a world obsessed with an inheritable Manor House. Throughout the plot, Smith paints a portrait of the ways in which society’s most economically disadvantaged are also its most neglected, categorizing this work as one of Smith’s arguments for class equality, consistent with Rawlsian perspectives. 

The Posthumous Works of Frederic II, King of Prussia, is a collection of King Frederic II’s correspondences with two influential individuals: Jean D’Alembert and Voltaire.

The Romance of Real Life is a collection of stories depicting French criminal trial cases.

The Works of M. de Voltaire, written in French and translated into English, is Voltaire’s most prominent work throughout the dataset, in both languages. It contains Candide, one of Voltaire’s most famous solitary texts, in which he points out the amount of worldly injustices to further philosophical conjectures, the History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great, Essays on literature, philosophy, art, history, The Henriade, to name a few. 

Nathaniel Holland-Dance, Portrait of Tobias Smollett. 1764. Yale Center for British Art, London. Public domain (accessed August 1, 2017). 

Tom Jones, more than 900 pages long, tells the exciting, humorous, and long-winded love story of Tom Jones and Sophia Western. The protagonist Jones is a boy who grows up exemplifying profound morality and generosity, but simultaneously lacks an ability to craft effective judgement. After a series of romantic encounters with women and perceived failures, Jones follows suit with quintessential life-changing protagonist epiphanies and entertains the realization that his anguish is perhaps solely a product of his actions. Satisfactorily, the novel ends with the long-anticipated union of Tom and Sophia.

After the passing of their daughter, Smollett and his wife traveled through Italy and France in an attempt to recover; thus was born Smollett’s Travels Through France and Italy. This particular work was not well received, as Smollett frequently argued with local cultural norms and customs throughout his book, regarding them disdainfully.

Houdon, Jean-Antoine Voltaire, Bronze sculpture. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Voltaire. 

In Zeluco, Moore outlines the story of a manic Sicilian raised without appropriate discipline who “causes death and ruin to all those around him” before facing a tragic end. In addition to telling the grim tale of a destructive main character, Zeluco includes a vivid description of European life, politics, and manners during the eighteenth century. Though it was first published more than two centuries ago (1789), publishers remark on the novel’s linguistic innovations that today remain relatively unchanged.