EDWARD GIBBON
(1737-1794)
58. The | History | Of The | Decline And Fall | Of The | Roman Empire. | By Edward Gibbon, Eſq; | Volume The First. | [Quotation] London: | Printed For W. Strahan; And T. Cadell, In The Strand. | MDCCLXXVI. [—MDCCLXXXVIII]
We are fortunate in having an account of the publication of this work written by Gibbon himself. In June, 1775, he says:
"The volume of my history, which had been somewhat delayed by the novelty and tumult of a first session, was now ready for the press. After the perilous adventure had been declined by my timid friend Mr. Elmsley, I agreed, on very easy terms, with Mr. Thomas Cadell, a respectable bookseller, and Mr. William Strahan, an eminent printer; and they undertook the care and risk of the publication, which derived more credit from the name of the shop than from that of the author. The last revisal of the proofs was submitted to my vigilance; and many blemishes of style, which had been invisible in the manuscript, were discovered and corrected in the printed sheet. So moderate were our hopes, that the original impression had been stinted to five hundred, till the number was doubled by the prophetic taste of Mr. Strahan. During this awful interval I was neither elated by the ambition of fame, nor depressed by the apprehension of contempt. My diligence and accuracy were attested by my own conscience...."
It was on the 17th of February that the first volume of the great work finally "declined into the World," as the author expressed it. Its success was immediate. "I am at a loss how to describe the success of the work without betraying the vanity of the writer. The first impression was exhausted in a few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to the demand, and the bookseller's property was twice invaded by the pyrates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost on every toilette...."
The second edition was called for in 1776. On May 20th Gibbon writes to J. B. Holroyd:
"In about a fortnight I again launch into the World in the shape of a quarto Volume. The dear Cadell assures me that he never remembered so eager and impatient a demand for a second Edition." And again in June he writes to the same: "The 1500 Copies are moving off with decent speed, and the obliging Cadell begins to mutter something of a third Edition for next year." This third edition did not, however, appear until 1782.
In June, 1780, we find our author busy revising and correcting for the press the second and third volumes of the first edition, both of which appeared the next year. Under date of April 13, 1781, he writes to his stepmother:
"The reception of these two volumes has been very unlike that of the first, and yet my vanity is so very dextrous, that I am not displeased with the difference. The effects of novelty could no longer operate, and the public was not surprised by the unexpected appearance of a new and unknown author. The progress of these two volumes has hitherto been quiet and silent. Almost everybody that reads has purchased, but few persons (comparatively) have read them; and I find that the greatest number, satisfied that they have acquired a valuable fund of entertainment, differ the perusal to the summer, the country, and a more quiet period. Yet I have reason to think, from the opinion of some judges, that my reputation has not suffered by this publication. The Clergy (such is the advantage of a total loss of character) commend my decency and moderation: but the patriots wish to down the work and the author."