Publication
John Harding published the first four letters before he was arrested and the fifth after his release. After Harding's death, George Faulkner became Swift's primary publisher in Ireland, and A Letter to the Lord Chancellor Middleton and An Humble Address were copied from manuscript copies provided by the author to Faulkner and then printed with the other letters. The Drapier's Letters were first collected and published in their entirety by Faulkner in 1735.
On 9 February 1733, Faulkner advertised his future publication of Swift's collected works in four volumes, the first containing the Drapier's Letters, in the Dublin Journal. However, this edition led to the Motte v Faulkner (1735) lawsuit, since the London bookseller Benjamin Motte had publication rights, under British copyright legislation, to many of the works included in Faulkner's edition. Although the Drapier's Letters were not under copyright, the complete work was legally brought to a halt from being published in England by a ruling on 28 November 1735. It is uncertain if Swift allowed Faulkner to publish the works in order to allow an Irish publisher to compete against a British publisher or if Swift had no say in the matter and Faulkner published the works against Swift's will. In a letter to Motte in May 1736, Swift did not defend Faulkner's legal right to publish the works. Instead, Swift admonished Motte for prosecuting Faulkner instead of coming to an agreement that would allow Faulkner to reprint the copyrighted material.
Read more about this topic: Drapier's Letters
Famous quotes containing the word publication:
“An action is the perfection and publication of thought. A right action seems to fill the eye, and to be related to all nature.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Of all human events, perhaps, the publication of a first volume of verses is the most insignificant; but though a matter of no moment to the world, it is still of some concern to the author.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“I would rather have as my patron a host of anonymous citizens digging into their own pockets for the price of a book or a magazine than a small body of enlightened and responsible men administering public funds. I would rather chance my personal vision of truth striking home here and there in the chaos of publication that exists than attempt to filter it through a few sets of official, honorably public-spirited scruples.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)