APPENDIX IV
ON THE SPECTATOR'S POPULARITY
The great vogue of the Spectator gives some measure of its extraordinary influence. Already in the tenth number we read that the daily circulation is three thousand, and later, in Spectator 124, Addison writes: 'My bookseller tells me the demand for these my papers increases daily.' Of particular papers we know that twenty or thirty thousand were sold, and Mr. Forster estimates that these numbers must be multiplied by six to represent a corresponding popularity in our day.
On July 31, 1712, Addison wrote: 'This is the day on which many eminent authors will probably publish their last words.' On August 1 the Stamp Tax came into operation, and every half-sheet periodical paid a duty of a half-penny. The price of the Spectator rose to twopence, and only half the former number of copies were sold, yet towards the close of the seventh volume about ten thousand copies were being issued daily.
After publication the papers were collected and issued in eight volumes, and nine or ten thousand copies of this first edition were sold at the price of a guinea a volume.