unexpectedness

For one of the chief accounts, upon which Wit it self is delightful, is, in very many cases, the unexpectedness of the things that please us; that unexpectedness being the highest Degree of Novelty, which, as I freshly noted, does exceedingly gratifie most Men’s minds.

1665, Robert Boyle, “A Discourse Touching Occasional Meditations”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects, London: Henry Herringman, Section 2, Chapter 1, p. 15

[…] all in an instant, without having before given me the least reason to suspect any thing of the matter, he forced me into the barge; saying, I was going to leave him, but he would take care I should not. I was so struck with the unexpectedness of this proceeding, that for some time I did not make a reply […]

1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 4, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, London, page 174

[…] he perceived a new attraction in the idea of taking to himself a young lady who had qualified herself to figure in his collection of choice objects by rejecting the splendid offer of a British aristocrat. Gilbert Osmond had a high appreciation of the British aristocracy—he had never forgiven Providence for not making him an English duke—and could measure the unexpectedness of this conduct.

1881, Henry James, Jr., chapter 9, in The Portrait of a Lady, New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 125