Novels-On-Line is an ongoing project making freely accessible full-text transcripts of some of the rarest works in the Chawton House library collection.
These texts, which explore such broad-ranging themes as satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft and piracy, signal the rich texture and innovative character of women’s writing in the period 1600 to 1830. In bringing these little-known novels to a wider audience, it is hoped to stimulate interest in these works amongst a new generation of readers and to encourage critical scholarship of some of the more obscure texts and authors represented in the collection.
Please note that the texts are completely unedited and have been copied from the originals as accurately as possible. Even obvious printer errors have been retained.
Anonymous novels
- A New Atalantis, for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty, 1760
- A Tale, for Gentle and Simple, 1815
- Ashton Priory, 1792
- The Bloody Hand, or, the Fatal Cup. A Tale of Horror!, [1810?]
- The Cautious Lover, 1772
- The Cavern of Horrors, or the Miseries of Miranda, [1802]
- The Cruel Husband; or, Devonshire Tragedy, [180-]
- The Death of Grimaldi, or the Fatal Secret, 1818
- De Montmorency: a Novel Founded on Recent Fact, 1790
- He Would be a Peer, 1798
- The History of Lord Clayton and Miss Meredith, 1771
- The History of Miss Sally Johnson; or, the Unfortunate Magdalen, [17-?]
- The Imposters Detected, 1760
- The Lord of Hardivyle, an Historical Legend of the Fourteenth Century, 1800
- Mary, the Maid of the Inn, 1824
- Malouka; or the Pious Mussulman, [ca.1810]
- The Midnight Assassin, 1802
- The Midnight Bell, [18-?]
- The Monk and the Vine-dresser: or, the Emigrants of Bellesme, 1809
- The Oracle; or, the Friend of Youth, 1816
- The Pleasures of Friendship, 1823
- Prepossession; or, Memoirs of Count Touloussin, 1792
- Tales of Terror! Or, More Ghosts. 1802
- The Reward of Virtue; or, the History of Miss Polly Graham, 1769
- The Suspicious Lovers, 1777
- Three Weeks in the Downs, or Conjugal Fidelity Rewarded: exemplified in the Narrative of Helen and Edmund, 1829
- The Village Coquette, 1822
- Yamboo; or, the North American Slave, 1812
Novels and Plays, Alphabetical
- Penelope Aubin, The Life of Charlotta Du Pont, an English Lady, 1723
- Penelope Aubin, The Inhuman Stepmother, or the History of Miss Harriot Montague, 1770
- Caroline Baker, Drawing-Room Tales. The Stout Gentleman; The Deserter; and The Broken Heart, [1830?]
- Aphra Behn, The Rover; or, the Banish’d Cavaliers, 1729.
- Anna Maria Bennett, Agnes De-Courci: a Domestic Tale, 1789
- Sarah Butler, Irish Tales, 1716
- Mary Ann Canning, The Offspring of Fancy, 1778
- Mrs. Carver, The Old Woman, 1800
- Mary Charlton, The Parisian; or, Genunine Anecdotes of Distinguished and Noble Characters, 1794
- Harriet Cheney, A Peep at the Pilgrims , 1825
- Maria Susanna Cooper, The Wife; or, Caroline Herbert ,1813
- Helen Craik, Stella of the North, or the Foundling of the Ship ,1802
- Mrs. E.M. Foster, The Corinna of England, and a Heroine in the Shade: a Modern Romance, 1809
- Mrs. E.M. Foster, Substance and Shadow; or, the Fisherman’s Daughter of Brighton, 1812
- Sarah Green, Romance Readers and Romance Writers: a Satirical Novel, 1810
- Jane Harvey, Any Thing But What You Expect ,1819
- Jane Harvey, The Castle of Tynemouth. A Tale, 1830
- Anne Julia Kemble Hatton, Lovers and Friends; or, Modern Attachments, 1821
- Elizabeth Helme, Magdalen; or, the Penitent of Godstow, 1812
- Anne Hughes, Caroline; or, the Diversities of Fortune, 1787
- Rachel Hunter, The Unexpected Legacy, 1804
- Frances Jacson, Isabella. A Novel, 1823
- Frances Jacson, Things By Their Right Names, 1812
- Mrs. Johnson, Francis, the Philanthropist: an unfashionable tale, 1786
- Anne Ker, The Mysterious Count, 1803
- Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Verne La Fayette, The Princess of Cleves. An Historical Novel, 1777
- Alicia LeFanu, Leolin Abbey, 1819
- Alethea Lewis, Vicissitudes in Genteel Life, 1794
- Martha-Elizabeth Leycester, The Cottage of Friendship, 1788
- Anna Maria Mackenzie, Monmouth: a Tale, Founded on Historic Facts, 1790
- Anna Maria Mackenzie, The Irish Guardian, or, Errors of Eccentricity, 1809
- Mrs. Martin, The Enchantress; or, Where Shall I Find Her? A Tale, 1801
- Mrs. Mathews, Simple Facts or the History of an Orphan, 1793
- Agnes Musgrace, The Solemn Injunction, 1798
- Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck, Honoria Sommerville, 1789
- Catherine Selden, Villasantelle; or the Curious Impediment, 1817
- Elizabeth Isabella Spence, The Curate and His Daughter, a Cornish Tale, 1813
- Elizabeth Isabella Spence, The Nobility of the Heart, 1805
- Elizabeth (Byron) Strutt, Drelincourt and Rodalvi; or, Memoirs of Two Nobel Families, 1807
- Augusta Amelia Stuart, Cava of Toledo; or, the Gothic Princess, 1812
- Mary Ann Talbot, The Life and Surprising Adventures of Mary Ann Talbot, 1809
- Jane Taylor, Display: a Tale, 1823
- Jane Taylor, Rachel: a Tale, 1817
- Elizabeth Sophia Tomlins, The Victim of Fancy, 1787
- Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Castle of Montabino, [1809]
- Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Castle of Oravilla, [1810?]
- Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Child of Mystery, 1808
- Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Sorcerer’s Palace, [1805?]
- Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Tragical History of Miss Jane Arnold, [1843]
- Harriette Wilson, Paris Lions and London Tigers, 1825