Moll Flanders
novel by Daniel Defoe
Moll Flanders is a picaresque novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be an autobiographical account of the life of the eponymous heroine, detailing her exploits from birth until old age as she uses her wits, cunning and charm to provide herself with financial security.
While the novel is now generally attributed to Defoe, and his name is given as the author in modern printings, the original text does not list an author and was presented as an autobiography. The attribution to Defoe was first made by bookseller Francis Noble in 1770, thirty-nine years after Defoe's death in 1731.
Moll Flanders has been adapted numerous times for stage, radio, film and television. It has historically been the subject of occasional police censorship.
Plot
“Moll Flanders” informs the reader that this is not her real name, but an alias to protect her identity for legal reasons. She details her birth in Newgate Prison to a mother who delayed execution by “pleading her belly”, a custom of postponing death by claiming pregnancy. After giving birth, Moll’s mother is given a reprieve on her sentence and transported to British America instead, while Moll ends up with a travelling Romani family, from whom she escapes in the city of Colchester. A three year old Moll is placed in the care of a kind Nurse, who encourages her dreams of becoming a gentlewoman.
“Moll Flanders” enters the record as novel by Daniel Defoe. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Moll, Flanders and novel can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Moll Flanders” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Moll, Flanders and novel provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q612523. VIAF identifies the subject as 316306547. The Library of Congress control number is n85055428. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1722, 1770 and 1731.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Moll Flanders”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Moll Flanders primary sources, Moll Flanders archive and Moll research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Moll Flanders”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Moll Flanders” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.