SWIFT, Jonathan.

£125,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. True first edition (Teerink A) of Swift's masterpiece, published on 28 October 1726. Two superficially similar but distinct octavo editions followed in quick succession: the second (designated AA by Teerink) sometime in the middle of November and the third edition (Teerink B) in December. The stated "Second Edition" of the following year was in fact the fourth.Swift was safely in Ireland at publication date. "The clandestine business of getting into print a pseudonymous and satirically explosive political satire... (known from the start by its more popular title, Gulliver's Travels) was managed chiefly by Pope, with the assistance of John Gay and Erasmus Lewis. For speed, and to counter the risk of piracy, Motte used five printing houses (those of Edward Say, Henry Woodfall, James Bettenham, William Pearson, and, for the greatest share, that of Jane Ilive). The first edition appeared on 28 October 1726 in two octavo volumes at the price of 8s. 6d., but with unauthorized deletions and insertions by Andrew Tooke (the brother of Benjamin Tooke jun.), and sold out within a week. Gay wrote: 'From the highest to the lowest it is universally read, from the Cabinet-council to the Nursery'. . . Swift received from Motte £200 and possibly more from the sales of the book, largely due to Pope's effort at instilling into his friend the principles of 'prudent management'. . . Gulliver's Travels is the book by which Swift is chiefly remember

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