A
novel written by Samuel Richardson.
Pamela was first published in November, 1740 under the famous author
Anonymous' name.
Pamela consists of a series of letters from a maid to her parents. These letters describe her life and eventual seduction by the son of her mistress whose death is described in the first letter. The work is fully titled Pamela or Virtue Rewarded and is intended to demonstrate the proper moral conduct.
Pamela created quite a stir in its time, in equivalent terms it would have stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for several years. It went through 14 original printings, the last one in 1810.
Richarson, Samuel.
Pamela. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1971. Edited by TC Duncan and Ben D. Kimpel. ISBN:0395111552