Epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, published in seven volumes in 1754. His last completed novel, it anticipated the novel of manners of such authors as Jane Austen. Sir Charles Grandison is a gallant nobleman known for his heroic integrity and magnanimity. He rescues the honorable Harriet Byron when she is kidnapped by Sir Hargrave Pollexfen, her spurned suitor. Eventually, Grandison and Byron fall in love. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature