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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love rewards patient effort as much as luck?
The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love treats courtship as a skill worth learning—and laughing about. It joins the names of Roman poet Ovid and English novelist and playwright Henry Fielding. Ovid’s Art of Love supplies the tradition: witty advice on finding someone, winning attention, and keeping affection alive.
This playful guide brings poetry and humour to the serious business of wanting to be loved. Fielding is linked with an English-language version of this tradition, where practical tips meet teasing wit. The focus moves from places to meet and ways to approach someone to the care that affection needs once it begins.
What you’ll discover
- Love as a skill Explore the hopeful idea that love asks for effort, not simply luck or fate.
- The art of approaching Discover a courtship tradition that looks to public gatherings, festivals, and entertainments for possible meetings.
- Charm beyond mere appearance Consider why neat dress, clean habits, and pleasant manners matter more than show alone.
- Affection worth tending Look beyond winning attention to the patient work of keeping love alive.
- Advice with a smile Enjoy practical ideas wrapped in teasing humour, where romantic effort leaves room for laughter.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like satire, classical myth retold with a wink, the manners of Georgian London, or the history of how writers have joked about love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Love gets a boastful schoolmaster
- The crowd becomes a courting map
- Confidence rests on a doubtful claim
- The maid controls the opening
- Letters promise more than gifts
- Persuasion turns into deception and pressure
- Suspicion shapes the teacher's final rules
- The rogue's voice invites our doubt
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The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love
by Henry Fielding; Ovid · 1747
A self-appointed teacher opens a school for lovers and recommends London venues from Vauxhall to the playhouse.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Would you hand your coach to a driver who had never held the reins? The speaker of this book says you would not, and he says the same about love.
The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 5 min50 min fast, 1 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 15,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1747by Henry Fielding; Ovid
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A schoolmaster takes charge of Cupid's chariot
The book opens with a boast. In a learned age, says the speaker, every art has its rules, so love should have rules too. A ship needs a skilled captain and a coach needs a trained driver. So Cupid's chariot needs a trained hand, and the teacher has taken the driver's box.
He pictures himself as a schoolmaster and Cupid as a stubborn boy. Many a future hero held out his hands for the rod at school, he says, and both Duke William and his tutor Mr. Pointz prove it. The strongest ox accepts the yoke and the fiercest horse accepts the bridle, so Love will bend to him.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1747
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Fielding, Henry, and Ovid. The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lovers-assistant-or-new-art-of-love.
Fielding, H., & Ovid. (2026). The lovers assistant; or, new art of love. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lovers-assistant-or-new-art-of-love (Original work published 1747)
Fielding, Henry, and Ovid. The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lovers-assistant-or-new-art-of-love.
@book{fielding2026lovers,
author = {Fielding, Henry and Ovid},
title = {The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lovers-assistant-or-new-art-of-love},
note = {First published 1747}
}
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What is The Lovers Assistant about?
It is a comic guide that teaches young men how to find and win a mistress. A boastful teacher sets the lessons in London, with advice on places, letters, gifts, wine, flattery and appearance.
Is The Lovers Assistant based on Ovid?
Yes. It adapts the Roman poet Ovid's art of love for English readers, replacing Roman haunts with Vauxhall, Ranelagh, the Mall and the playhouse, while keeping many of the old myths.
What does the title New Art of Love mean?
It means a fresh version of Ovid's art of love, updated for modern times. The teacher treats courtship as a skill with rules, like steering a ship or driving a coach.
The author
Henry Fielding
1707–1754 · English novelist and playwright
Henry Fielding (1707–1754) was an English novelist and dramatist. He was born in Somerset and lived and worked in London, where he also served as a magistrate. He wrote Jonathan Wild (1743), Tom Jones (1749), and Amelia (1751). He travelled to Portugal in 1754 and died in Lisbon that year.
More by Henry Fielding; Ovid
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