Joseph Wilmot, or, The Memoirs of a Man-Servant

# Joseph Wilmot; or, The Memoirs of a Man-Servant

Penny dreadful serial by George W. M. Reynolds, 1864

This first volume comprises seventy-six chapters detailing the picaresque adventures of Joseph Wilmot, an orphan foundling raised at a provincial boarding school near Leicester. Upon the schoolmaster's death when Joseph is fifteen, he enters service as a man-servant and embarks on a turbulent social journey across England and into continental Europe. The narrative traces his entanglements with aristocratic employers, mysterious women including the mysterious Lady Calanthe and virtuous Annabel, and various misadventures including imprisonment and flight to Scotland. The narrative encompasses scenes of seduction, daring escape, encounters with highwaymen, and culminates in episodes set in Paris involving a French aristocratic family and complications over bank-notes. The work is illustrated with fifty-two wood engravings by Edward Corbould, depicting key dramatic moments in the protagonist's eventful career.