The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale. Supposed to be written by Himself . The Fourth Edition

[Goldsmith, Oliver]

Edité par Printed [by Mein and Fleeming] in the Year, Dublin [i.e., Boston], 1767

A propos de cet article

First American edition, with false Dublin imprint. [viii], 129,[130-132, blank]; [iv], 124pp. Final two leaves of vol. 2 in facsimile. 12mo. A storied American imprint: the first American edition of Oliver Goldsmith's novel, The Vicar of Wakefield, printed in Boston under a false Dublin imprint. Bookseller-publisher John Mein arrived in Boston in 1764, and fellow Scot John Fleeming began printing for him in 1766. As early as Isaiah Thomas' History of Printing in America, Mein was known to have used false imprints "palmed upon the public" since books with London or Dublin imprints sold better than those printed in America. Mein, who established the first lending library in Boston, opposed the Boston Non-Importation movement against British goods, and fled to England. "In the period of four years however, Mein had established himself as the outstanding publisher of the day both in the number and in the quality of the books he issued" (Alden, p. 203). Alden in 1942 identified a Mein and Fleeming edition of The Vicar of Wakefield, "the most notable of all Mein's publications", but could locate no surviving copy. Four decades later, Mary Pollard identified the Boston printing by examinations of the types used in the copy in Trinity College, Dublin, concluding that the text was set in strong-faced Long Primer as shown on Mein and Fleeming's specimen sheet of circa 1767. Only a handful of copies are recorded, with most being incomplete: Trinity College, Dublin; American Antiquarian Society (lacks first four leaves of vol. 1 and p. 123-124 of vol. 2); Harvard (rebound and lacking leaves?); Yale (vol. 2 only); JCB (lacking two leaves); Library Company of Philadelphia (vol. 1 title torn with loss, lacking terminal two leaves in vol. 2); Princeton. ESTC records a copy at the Free Library of Philadelphia, but no such copy appears in their catalogue. Remarkably, the Library Company copy, the Princeton copy and the present copy all with provenance to Michael Zinman. This is the earliest obtainable literary novel printed in America, preceded only by an edition of Pamela known in a single copy. Goldsmith's celebrated novel escaped the general scorn heaped upon novel-reading and was deemed the only work suitable for reading by well-bred girls. Rosenbach, in his discussion of American Children's Books, records only the 1772 Philadelphia edition. Not in Evans; Bristol B2764; Shipton 41716; ESTC W39851. For first edition: Grolier English 53; Rothschild 1028. References: Alden, John Eliot. John Mein, Publisher: An Essay in Bibliographic Detection, in: Bibliographical Society of America, Papers. 36:3 (1942), pp. 199-214; Pollard, Mary, "The First American Edition of The Vicar of Wakefield," pp. 123-30, in Treasures of the Library, Trinity College, Dublin (1986) Contemporary sheep, spine with raised bands, red morocco lettering piece, lacks endpapers. Foxing, head of title and 3 subsequent leaves clipped without loss to text, M2 and M3 in vol. 2 in excellent facsimile. Cloth folding box [viii], 129,[130-132, blank]; [iv], 124pp. Final two leaves of vol. 2 in facsimile. 12mo First American edition, with false Dublin imprint.

N° de réf. du vendeur 373081

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale. Supposed to be written by Himself . The Fourth Edition
• Éditeur: Printed [by Mein and Fleeming] in the Year, Dublin [i.e., Boston]
• Date de parution: 1767
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Literature
  • Americana