Publication History
A Fable for Critics, with the subtitle "A Glance at a Few of Our Literary Progenies", was published anonymously as a pamphlet early in 1848. Three thousand copies were sold in short order. Lowell had hoped there would be sufficient profit from his sales, which he intended to turn over to his financially struggling friend Briggs, though it was said the profit was only enough to purchase one small silver plate. The poem was reprinted several times with Lowell's name after its initial publication. One version included an introductory note explaining its author's intentions: "This jeu d'esprit was extemporized, I may fairly say, so rapidly was it written, purely for my own amusement and with no thought of publication" until convinced to do so by Briggs.
Read more about this topic: A Fable For Critics
Famous quotes containing the words publication and/or history:
“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)
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)