Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Henry Fielding

A lively assortment of Henry Fielding’s early prose offers listeners a taste of his sharp wit and inventive storytelling. The collection opens with a fantastical voyage in which the narrator meets Mercury, navigates the City of Diseases, and confronts the gates of Elysium, setting a tone of humor mixed with philosophical musings. Short, episodic chapters introduce a parade of characters—spirits, judges, and a shape‑shifting Julian—each encounter lighting up the afterlife with satire and vivid imagination.

The second portion shifts to a playful biography of the self‑styled “great” Jonathan Wild. Through brisk dialogues and a series of brief adventures, the work charts Wild’s rise, his encounters with the flamboyant Count La Ruse, and a series of amusing social sketches that parody heroic narratives. Fielding’s keen eye for human folly shines in these early exploits, inviting listeners to relish both the comic exaggeration and the underlying commentary on ambition and virtue.

Together, these pieces capture the author’s early spirit: inventive, irreverent, and eager to turn ordinary episodes into memorable, witty adventures.