GOLDSMITH, Oliver.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale. First edition of Goldsmith's sentimental masterpiece. Published in over 20 editions before the year 1800, it remains a classic novel of the 18th century.This Salisbury edition is the true first, preceding the London edition by slightly over two months. Publication was much delayed, coming four years after the rights to the manuscript were sold to the publisher by Samuel Johnson on Goldsmith's behalf. The delay is ascribed to Goldsmith's revisions or the publisher's reticence to commit to printing the work until Goldsmith had established a reputation. The edition was burdened with a number of typographic errors or omissions, the most significant of which have been sorted into four variant groups without established priority. This copy is in Scott's Variant D: the catchword present on Volume One, page 213; the correct catchword "him" on Volume Two, page 39; and the mispagination of Volume Two, page 159 as page 165.

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