Though a productive playwright and author of political and social improvement tracts, Fielding is best remembered for his novels, including The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews (1742), The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great (1743), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), which constitutes one of the most important early landmarks in the development of the British novel, Amelia (1751), and An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews (1741), a parody of Samuel Richardson's Pamela. His Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon (1755) recounts his travels on an unsuccessful journey to improve his health. A select list of plays by the author includes The Temple Beau (1730), Tom Thumb (1730), Miser (1732), and The Wedding Day (1743). Periodical publications by the author include The Champion (1737-1740), The Covent-Garden Journal (1752), The True Patriot (1745), and The Jacobite Journal (1747), among many others. Political publications by the author include A Charge Delivered to the Grand Jury, at the Sessions of the Peace Held for the City and Liberty of Westminster, & c. On Thursday the 29th of June 1749 (1749), An Enquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers etc. with Some Proposals for Remedying this Growing Evil (1751), and A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor, for Amending Their Morals and for Rendering Them Useful Members of the Society (1753), A Clear State of the Case of Elizabeth Canning, Who Hath Sworn That She Was Robbed and Almost Starved to Death by a Gang of Gipsies and Other Villains in January Last, for Which One Mary Squires Now Lies under Sentence of Death (1753).