William Williams (1727-1791) was a professional painter and landscape artist who tutored a young Benjamin West. Williams primarily resided in Philadelphia and New York and is thought to have written Mr. Penrose shortly before the Revolutionary War. David Howard Dickason (1907-1974) was Professor of English at Indiana University and a specialist in American literature. He discovered William Williams's original manuscript at Indiana University's Lilly Library.Sarah Wadsworth is Associate Professor of English at Marquette University. She is author of In the Company of Books: Literature and Its "Classes" in Nineteenth-Century America and (with Wayne A. Wiegand) of Right Here I See My Own Books: The Woman's Building Library at the World's Columbian Exposition.

"The novel itself is a fascinating and detailed account of how Penrose, an English castaway in the Americas, survives—and finally flourishes in a multiethnic society. Dickason's editorial intrusions are sparse but judicious: they provide necessary explanations, and they allow readers to immerse themselves in the story. . . . Recommended."—Choice"Sarah Wadsworth expertly positions Williams's novel to contribute to current transnational and postnational scholarship. In this timely edition, she demonstrates that including Mr. Penrose in the conversation about the earliest American novels helps to reveal the rich, complicated nature of their history."—Cristine Levenduski, Associate Professor of English, Emory University"This new paperback edition of Williams's novel makes a significant contribution to early American literary and cultural studies. It is well suited to contribute to new scholarly trends, which are moving solidly in the direction of transatlantic study, colonialism, ecocriticism, and indigenous people studies."—Paul Gutjahr, Professor of English, Indiana University

• Editor's Original Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4. Second Year of My Lonely Condition Chapter 5. Third Year of My Residence Chapter 6. Fourth Year of my Residence Chapter 7. Fifth Year of my Residence Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Sixth Year of My Residence Chapter 10. Seventh Year Chapter 11. Chapter 12. Eight Year Chapter 13. Chapter 14. Chapter 15. Ninth Year Chapter 16. Tenth Year Chapter 17. Eleventh Year Chapter 18. Twelfth Year Chapter 19. Chapter 20 Thirteenth Year Chapter 21. Chapter 22. Fourteenth Year Chapter 23. Chapter 24. Fifteenth Year Chapter 25. Sixteenth Year Chapter 26. Chapter 27. Seventeenth Year Chapter 28. Chapter 29. Eighteenth Year Chapter 30. Chapter 31. Nineteenth Year Chapter 32. Chapter 33. Twentieth Year Chapter 34. Twenty First Year Chapter 35. Twenty Second Year Chapter 36. Twenty Third Year Chapter 37. Twenty Fourth Year Chapter 38. Twenty Fifth Year Chapter 39. Twenty Sixth Year Chapter 40. Twenty Seventh Year Chapter 41. Twenty Eighth Year Afterword by Sarah Wadsworth