The first edition of Henrietta was advertised on February 2, 1758, and the second, corrected edition, which we have used as the copytext, was first announced on March 17, 1761, in the London Chronicle. We have listed variations between the two editions in appendix I. We chose the second edition as a copytext for this modern edition because it was probably corrected by Lennox, who was living in London at the time, with access to the bookseller’s (Millar) premises where the second edition was produced. The second edition consistently represents a more polished version of the novel, probably Lennox’s attempt to attract a wider audience. In this edition spelling has sometimes been modernized in such changes as catholick to catholic and raillying to rallying, and a more modern use of semicolons and commas makes for easier reading. A more elevated style has replaced simpler, more direct language, such as the change from “nothing” to “a trifle” and from “anxious to get out” to “desirous of leaving.” These alterations represent an inflation of tone and diction, an attempt to be more elegant. Type names (both male and female), such as Bale (a merchant), Measure (a mantua maker), Fig (a grocer), Haggle (a broker), Steam (a soap boiler), Traffik (a baronet), Supple (a sympathetic waiting woman), Vellum (a clerk), and Echo (a gossip), have been replaced by more plausible and realistic names in this second edition: Damer, Cary, Jennings, Collins, Rogers, Harris, Smith, Jones, and Ellis. Details about the passage of time and sums of money have been corrected, making them more realistic and less arbitrary. For example, Henrietta’s brother is described as having been abroad for ten years in the first edition. However, in the revised version he has been gone for “several years.” Given their young age and the story line, “several years” is a much more likely time span than ten. Roughly 20 percent of the original plates were reset to accommodate these improvements.
Although most details of the plot have been left entirely as they were in the first edition, the omission of one passage suggests a shift in the depiction of the character of Henrietta. In the first edition, Henrietta’s description of her elderly suitor, Mr. Danvers, suggests a slightly more malicious and spirited character than is portrayed in the second edition of the text: “When we were placed at table, I found myself opposite to him; and observing that he chewed his meat with great difficulty, for want of teeth, I was resolved to mortify him, by letting him perceive that I observed it, looking at him several times with a kind of sensibility for this so unavoidable a misfortune.” This passage is omitted in the second edition, creating a more conventionally decorous picture of Henrietta, and one aligned more completely with her otherwise high-toned behavior. This change, together with alterations in diction, makes the novel less of a burlesque and more conventionally sentimental. Although Henrietta is still adventurous and opinionated in the second edition, she is not saucy. Henrietta has been slightly tamed; perhaps Lennox thought this would satisfy her audience.
There are several factors that point to the probability of Lennox’s hand in these corrections. During 1760–1761 she was regularly involved in the publishing world. On February 21, 1760, her translation of The Greek Theatre of Father Brumoy was published (London Chronicle). On August 1–2, 1760, the Public Advertiser advertised her translation of a text by Voltaire named “Histoire de CZAAR Pierre le Grand. Par M. De VOLTAIRE. The English Translation being made by Mrs. Charlotte Lennox.” to be published “In a few Days,” although nothing more was heard of this work. During this time Lennox was also editing the periodical The Lady’s Museum, which ran from March 1760 to February 1761. To be this active as a woman in the London publishing market suggests that she was her own greatest advocate. The meticulous correction of this edition of Henrietta reveals a care that its author might be more inclined to give than a printer. After the first edition was published, a letter she wrote to Lord Orrery on October 29, 1758, indicates her concern for the second, corrected edition and how she looked forward to her full share in its profits, explaining that this time the profits “will be all my own.” Her financial compensation translated into a greater feeling of ownership over this revised and corrected edition. She may have also desired to improve it, since she complained in a letter on October 6, 1760, that the first edition was “so hurried.” The edition of 1761 is the first to bear Lennox’s name, both on the title page and at the end of the dedication. Instead of reading, as does the 1758 title page, “The Author of The Female Quixote,” the 1761 title page reads “By Mrs. Charlotte Lennox.” Lennox corresponded with the Duchess of Newcastle, to whom she dedicated this edition, just a little over a month (October 6, 1760) before the date of the dedication (London, November 20, 1760), complaining of her “incessant slavery to the booksellers,” which is another indication of how hard she was working this year.
In editing this text, we have sought to remain faithful to the 1761 spelling and punctuation. For example, this edition maintains spellings such as “to-morrow” and “visiter” and the inconsistent use of apostrophes. We have made alterations in the following instances: eliminating running quotes, regularizing dashes and the number of spaces to indent paragraphs—since any variation is typographical rather than intentional—modernizing the long s, and regularizing opening and closing quotes. In cases where typographical errors impair the meaning we correct them and list them in appendix II. Our notes include explanations of eighteenth-century words that do not appear in a standard dictionary of today.