Details
[GOLDSMITH, Oliver (ca 1730-1774)]. The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale. Supposed to be written by Himself. Salisbury: Printed by B. Collins for F. Newbery, 1766.
2 volumes, 12o (161 x 95 mm). (K12 in vol. 2 with small repaired tear slightly affecting catchword, title-pages with minor marginal discoloration.) Modern tan morocco, spine lettered in gilt, gilt edges, by Zaehnsdorf.
FIRST EDITION, Scott's variant "C" with catchword present on p. 213 of volume one, and with the catchword "him" correct on p. 39 of volume 2 and p. 159 of volume 2 correctly paginated. Although the manuscript for The Vicar of Wakefield was sold to the publisher Collins nearly four years earlier, through the intervention of Samuel Johnson it was not published until 1766. "The occasion for the delay has been explained in various ways. One explanation is that it was held back until the Traveller, which came out in 1765, should have increased the author's reputation. It may have been, as Johnson told Boswell, that the publishers were afraid that the book would not sell" (Grolier English 53). Rothschild 1028; Scott Goldsmith, pp. 173-175; Sterling 400; Tinker 1110.
2 volumes, 12o (161 x 95 mm). (K12 in vol. 2 with small repaired tear slightly affecting catchword, title-pages with minor marginal discoloration.) Modern tan morocco, spine lettered in gilt, gilt edges, by Zaehnsdorf.
FIRST EDITION, Scott's variant "C" with catchword present on p. 213 of volume one, and with the catchword "him" correct on p. 39 of volume 2 and p. 159 of volume 2 correctly paginated. Although the manuscript for The Vicar of Wakefield was sold to the publisher Collins nearly four years earlier, through the intervention of Samuel Johnson it was not published until 1766. "The occasion for the delay has been explained in various ways. One explanation is that it was held back until the Traveller, which came out in 1765, should have increased the author's reputation. It may have been, as Johnson told Boswell, that the publishers were afraid that the book would not sell" (Grolier English 53). Rothschild 1028; Scott Goldsmith, pp. 173-175; Sterling 400; Tinker 1110.