Japhet, in Search of a Father

Japhet, in Search of a Father is a brisk comic adventure about a foundling who turns abandonment into opportunity through wit, audacity, and endless improvisation. Left as an infant at the Foundling Hospital with a note, a bank note, and a promise that he will one day be reclaimed, Japhet Newland grows up with no family ties but with a talent for telling his own story. Apprenticed to the eccentric apothecary Phineas Cophagus, he enters a noisy world of medicines, markets, and social absurdities, where he soon befriends the irreverent fellow foundling Timothy Oldmixon. Together they drift into mischief, from backbreaking shop labor to a cheeky scheme of pretending to be doctors, exposing the comic dangers of amateur medicine and Japhet's gift for deception. As the plot widens, secrecy and suspense mingle with satire: a mysterious gipsy-like figure, an attempted abduction, and clues pointing toward Japhet's hidden past send him in pursuit of the truth. A dark journey to Ireland deepens the intrigue, with old masters, suspicious travelers, and hints of legacy, bribery, and identity. Fast-moving, sharply humorous, and full of social observation, the novel follows Japhet's search for his father through a parade of professions, disguises, and revelations. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.