53. The " Vicar " Of " Wakefield: " A Tale. " Suppo?ed to be written by Himself. " Sperate mi?eri, cavete foelices. " Vol. I. Salisbury: " Printed by B. Collins, " For F. Newbery, in Pater-No?ter-Row, London. " MDCCLXVI.

Boswell, Mrs. Piozzi, Sir John Hawkins and others have given slightly different versions of the well-known story of the sale of the manuscript of the Vicar; but aside from throwing light on the character of Goldsmith, none of them have helped us to a definite understanding of the transaction. The earliest account was written by Mrs. Piozzi in 1786, under the title of Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., during the last Twenty Years of his Life. At pp. 119-120 she says:

"I have forgotten the year, but it could scarcely I think be later than 1765 or 1766, that he [Johnson] was called abruptly from our house after dinner, and returning in about three hours, ?aid, he had been with an enraged author, whose landlady pressed him for payment within doors, while the bailiffs beset him without; that he was drinking himself drunk with Madeira to drown care, and fretting over a novel which when finished was to be his whole fortune; but he could not get it done for distraction, nor could he step out of doors to offer it to sale. Mr. Johnson therefore set away the bottle, and went to the bookseller, recommending the performance, and desiring some immediate relief, which when he brought back to the writer, he called the woman of the house directly to partake of punch, and pass the time in merriment."

Boswell adds, in his account, that Johnson sold the novel for £60. There seems to be no evidence to prove this, nor yet to show who bought it. It has generally been supposed that the publisher, "F. Newbery," or his uncle, John Newbery, with whom he was inseparably connected, was the purchaser, until Mr. Charles Welsh made the discovery which he relates in his A Bookseller of the Last Century. He says:

"In a book marked 'Account of copies, their cost and value, 1764,' I find the following entry:—"'Vicar of Wakefield,' 2 vols. 12mo., ?rd. B. Collins, Salisbury, bought of Dr. Goldsmith, the author, October 28, 1762, £21.""

From this entry of Collins, the Salisbury printer, we may conclude that the amount Johnson is said to have received for the distressed author (from Newbery, perhaps) was an advance on the unfinished story; and that Collins bought his third interest some time afterward. In 1785, when Collins sold out his interest, Mr. Strahan owned one third, and Carnan and Newbery the other third.

There are several circumstances, besides the date given by Collins, which show that the Vicar was sold, in whole or in part, at least four years before it was published, and not a few months before, as Mrs. Piozzi thought. 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. Certainly the results would seem to bear them out in any doubts they may have had of its financial success. Mr. Welsh says:

"All the writers who have spoken of the "Vicar of Wakefield" have jumped to the conclusion that it brought a golden harvest to its publishers ... The first three editions ... resulted in a loss, and the fourth, which was not issued until eight years after the first, started with a balance against it of £2 16s. 6d., and it was not until the fourth edition had been sold that the balance came out on the right side."

After being three months in the press, the book appeared March 27, 1766. The advertisement in the Public Advertiser reads: "This Day is publi?hed, In two Volumes in Twelves, Price 6s. bound, or 5s. ?ewed, The Vicar of Wakefield, A Tale. Supposed to be written by Himself. 'Seperate [?ic] mi?ere cavete foelices.' Printed for F. Newbery, at the Crown in Pater-No?ter Row, of whom may be had, Price 1s. 6d. The Traveller, or, a Pro?pect of Society, a Poem. By Dr. Goldsmith." The author's name was signed to the preface, or "Advertisement" of the book, so it was not really anonymous, as the title-page and newspaper advertisement would lead us to think. If it was not a financial success the tale seems to have met with popular favor. The second edition, bearing the imprint London: Printed for F. Newbery, in Pater-Noster-Row, MDCCLXVI., was issued May 31, and the third on August 29. Ninety-six editions were issued before 1886, and there are translations in every European language.

This Francis Newbery, as we have said, was nephew and successor to John Newbery. The elder man combined a successful business in the publishing of books with the sale of quack medicines,—not an unusual thing in those days. His list of nostrums contained over thirty medicines, among them being Dr. James's Fever Powder, Dr. Steer's Oil for Convulsions, Dr. Harper's Female Pills, and a certain Cordial Cephalic Snuff. His book-selling ventures demand more than passing mention, since he really introduced "the regular system of a Juvenile Library, and gave children books in a more permanent form than the popular chap-books of the period,"—delightful books of which more than one writer has spoken with affection. The general character of the stories, splendidly bound in flowered and gilt Dutch papers, may be gathered from a few of their titles: The History of Little Goody Two Shoes, The Renowned History of Giles Gingerbread, and Blossoms of Morality.

Newbery's publishing ventures were not confined to children's books, by any means; his name gains additional luster by appearing on the title-pages of several of Goldsmith's works. Francis was mostly a reflection of his enterprising uncle, but his connection with the Vicar of Wakefield will ever cause him to be remembered.

Duodecimo.

Collation: Two volumes. Volume I: 2 ll., 214 pp. Volume II: 1 l., 223 pp.