The Life and Adventures of Joe Thompson. A Narrative founded on Fact

1750

De Beer Irb 1750 K

Dublin: Printed by S. Powell for Robert Main

Although this work purports to be an autobiography of Joe Thompson, it is in fact a ‘novel’ by the journeyman writer Edward Kimber (1719–1769). His work on Thompson was his most popular, going through six editions and eventually translated into French and German. The first London edition of 1750 did not carry a frontispiece. However, this Dublin edition of 1750 does, and it depicts a rather primitive cut of the fictitious Thompson. Perhaps the image is more closely aligned to the Dublin bookseller Robert Main, who commissioned the engraving, or the mysterious engraver himself.