University of Virginia Library

The assertion that the first two editions of Henry Fielding's Miscellanies (both published in April 1743) are in reality only one edition, was first made over forty years ago.[1] However, recent bibliographic studies, such as William B. Todd's "Recurrent Printing" (SB, XII [1958], 189-198), have stimulated a re-examination of the truth of such statements. Since the two

standard bibliographies of Fielding—in volume III of Cross's History and in volume II of CBEL —both rely upon the information printed on title pages, and since such information is frequently misleading bibliographically, it may be worthwhile to examine the Miscellanies in some detail.

The history of the composition and publication of this work is one of delays and postponements. At some time during the winter of 1741-1742 Fielding issued proposals for printing by subscription a miscellaneous collection of his works, both poetry and prose, in three volumes. On June 3, 1742, Henry Woodfall printed 700 more proposals for Fielding.[2] Two days later the Daily Post printed a notice of these proposals which describes the contents of the volumes and then states:

However, in the winter of 1742-1743 Fielding was again plagued with sickness and worries (which he describes in the preface to the Miscellanies), and so publication was again postponed. On February 14, 1742/43, the Daily Advertiser carried the following notice:

For some reason, however, the volumes were not published on February 28. The next notice to the subscribers appeared in the St. James Evening

Post of March 22-24, 24-26, and 26-29: "On Thursday the 7th of April, will be deliver'd to the SUBSCRIBERS, MISCELLANIES. IN THREE VOLUMES, octavo, By HENRY FIELDING, Esq;"[5] Finally, in its issue of April 5-7, 1743, the General Evening Post announced that "This Day, April 7, began to be delivered to the Subscribers, Miscellanies. . . ."[6] This first edition, "printed for the Author and sold by A. Millar," was issued (according to the subscription list) to 427 subscribers who took a total of 556 sets (214 on royal paper at two guineas a set, and 342 on coarse paper at one guinea a set). The list of subscribers was printed alphabetically at the front of the first volume, and Fielding was undoubtedly pleased with the 770 guineas he received. In fact, since the printing of the Miscellanies cost Fielding less than £100 (see below), he had a net profit of over £700, which is more than he received for any of his works with the exception of Amelia.

The General Evening Post for April 21-23 announced that "Next Week will be published, Price bound 15s. The Second Edition, of Miscellanies. . . ." In its next issue of April 23-26, 1743, the same paper advertised that "This Day were published . . . The Second Edition, of Miscellanies. . . ."[7] This so-called second edition, "printed for A. Millar" and minus the list of subscribers,[8] was thus offered to the public only nineteen days after the first edition was ready for the subscribers.

Careful comparison of these two "editions" indicates not only that they are in truth, one edition but also that they are merely varying states of the same impression.[9] The first state is composed of copies printed on both royal paper and coarse paper and contains the list of subscribers. Copies of the second state have different title pages, lack the list of subscribers, and are printed only on coarse paper. More specific information is given in the following description of variants.

First State, Volume I.

• Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / In Three Volumes. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for the AUTHOR: / And sold by A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.
• Special Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / VOL. I. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for the AUTHOR: / And sold by A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.

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250




• Collation: 8°: iA (8 leaves) a (5 leaves) b-c8 d 1.2,3 A-Y8 Z1 [$4 (—A2, B4, T4,X2) signed], pp. [26] i ii-xxxvii xxxviii, 1-3 4-115 116 117-178 179-180 181-227 228-230 231-251 252-254 255 256 257-277 278-280 281-294 295-296 297-322 323-324 325-340 341-342 343-354 [misnumbering xxxiii-xxxvii as xxxi, xxviii, xxix, xxvi, xxvii; 255 as 254]. (See below for an explanation of the collational formula.)
• Contents: iA1r title, iA1v blank, iA2r special title, iA2v blank, iA3r-a5v "LIST OF SUBSCREBERS" [sic], pp. i-xxxvii preface, xxxviii blank, 1-354 text (with 2, 116, 180, 228, 230, 252, 254, 256, 278, 280, 296, 324, 342 blank).
• Press figures: iA8v-1, a1v-1, a2v-1, iv-1, xv-2, xx-1, xxx-2, 9-1, 15-1, 23-1, 24-1, 36-1, 38-1, 50-1, 64-3, 74-3, 80-3, 86-1, 96-1, 106-1, 109-2, 118-1, 121-1, 130-2, 140-2, 146-1, 156-1, 173-1, 174-1, 186-2, 189-1, 207-2, 210-3, 212-1, 226-2, 232-2, 242-2, 244-2, 260-2, 271-2, 276-1, 283-2, 290-1, 293-3, 312-1, 319-1, 331-2, 336-2, 345-1, 351-1.
• Italicized numbers indicate that these press figures are occasionally missing. In both the first and second states, gathering d has no press figures and is misnumbered throughout.
• Royal Paper: Heavy, with a watermark of a fleur-de-lis over a shield with Strasbourg bend and initials "LVG." Size of page: 22.5 x 14 cm. Number printed: probably 250. Copies consulted: Newberry Library; University of Texas, Aitken collection.[10]
• Coarse Paper: Heavy, with a fleur-de-lis watermark and the initials "IR" or "IV" for a countermark. Size of page: 20 x 12.5 cm. Number printed: approximately 350. Copies consulted: University of Illinois (2 copies); University of Michigan; Princeton University; University of Texas, Aitken collection and Wrenn collection (1 copy each).

Second State, Volume I.

• Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / In Three Volumes. / The Second Edition. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.
• Special Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / VOL. I. / The Second Edition. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.
• Collation: 8°: a 2 b-c8 d4 (—d4) A-Y8 Z1 [d4] [$4 (—B4,T4,X2) signed], pp. [4] i . . . . (rest of collation same as first state, volume I).
• Contents: a1r title, a1v blank, a2r special title, a2v blank, pp. i-xxxvii preface. . . . (rest of contents same as first state, volume I).
• Press figures: The second state of this volume, although lacking gatherings iA and a and having different title pages, is otherwise identical with the first state in its signatures and press figures. However, some copies of the second state lack figures 226-2 in P or 242-2 in Q.

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• Paper and size of page: Same as coarse-paper copy of first state, volume I. Number printed: approximately 650. Copies consulted: University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Newberry Library.

J. P. de Castro (p. 259) was the first person to publish the fact that William Strahan was the printer of this volume. The entry in Strahan's ledger is as follows:

The first state of this volume contains 26 sheets plus one leaf of printed material, but the second state contains only 24¾ sheets. The majority of the copies printed were second state; so by charging for 26½ sheets for all the copies printed, Strahan increased his profit at Fielding's expense.[11] Volume II contains 26½ sheets and volume III 27 sheets. Assuming the same rate for the printing of these volumes, the total cost to Fielding for printing his Miscellanies was approximately £90.

I assume that Strahan made a mistake in listing only 200 copies printed on the fine (or "royal") paper. In the first place, the subscription list calls for 214 copies on royal paper. Secondly, we know that there were some subscribers whose names are not on the subscription list.[12] Thirdly, we know that 250 copies of volume III were printed on royal paper (see below). Since the royal-paper copies are noticeably larger than those printed on coarse paper, Millar would surely have detected a shortage of fifty copies of volume I. Strahan may have been unfair to Fielding but certainly not to this extent; the ledger entry must be in error.

First State, Volume II.

• Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / [rule] / VOL. II. / A Journey from this / World to the Next, &c. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for the AUTHOR: / And sold by A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.
• Collation: 8°: A1[2E4] B-2D8 2E4 (—2E4) [$4 (—E3) signed], pp. [2] 1-5 6 7-250 251-252 253-290 291-293 294-295 296 297-420 421-422.

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• Contents: A1r title, A1v blank, pp. 1-5 text, 6 blank, 7-291 text, 292 blank, 293-422 text.
• Press figures: 25-5, 31-4, 44-3, 47-3, 60-5, 63-4, 78-5, 94-4, 111-4, 114-4, 143-5, 155-5, 178-1, 203-5, 224-4, 238-4, 256-4, 271-4, 287-5, 302-5, 306-5, 322-5, 338-5, 367-5, 382-5, 399-5, 414-5.
• The royal-paper copy lacks figure 25-5.
• Royal-paper and coarse-paper copies: Paper, size, and number printed are the same as first state, volume I. Copies consulted: University of Illinois (2 copies coarse paper), Newberry Library (royal paper).

Second State, Volume II.

• Title: MISCELLANIES, / BY / Henry Fielding Esq; / [rule] / VOL. II. / A Journey from this / World to the Next, &c. / [ornament] / LONDON: / Printed for A. Millar, opposite to / Catharine-Street, in the Strand. / MDCCXLIII.
• Collation and Contents: Same as first state of this volume.
• Press figures: Same as coarse-paper copies of first state of this volume.
• Coarse paper: Paper, size, and number printed are the same as second state, volume I. Copies consulted: University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Newberry Library.

Volume II is the only volume that does not have "Second Edition" printed on the title page of the copies of the second state. The printer of this volume is unknown.[13]

First State, Volume III.

• Title: MISCELLANIES. / [rule] / THE / LIFE / OF / Mr. JONATHAN WILD / THE GREAT. / [rule] / VOL. III. / [rule] / By Henry Fielding, Esq; / [double rule] / LONDON, / Printed for the Author; and sold by A. Mil-/lar, opposite to Catharine-Street in the Strand. / [rule] / MDCCXLIII.
• Collation: 8°: A1[2E4] a4 B-2D8 2E4[—2E4] [$4 (—a3,4;2E3) signed], pp. [10] 1 2-284 285 286-421 422.
• Contents: A1r title, A1v blank, a1r-a4v contents, 1-421 text, 422 blank.
• Press figures: 15-1, 29-3, 31-1, 47-1, 57-2, 79-3, 88-1, 109-3, 123-3, 136-3, 142-2, 157-3, 159-1, 162-3, 176-2, 185-1, 186-3, 206-2, 223-1, 237-1, 254-5, 270-5, 286-2, 303-3, 317-1, 319-3, 336-3, 344-4, 346-4, 354-3, 384-1, 411-2.
• In most copies figure 185-1 is a faint, indistinct smudge. The royal-paper copy lacks figures 142-2, 159-1, 176-2, and 317-1. The coarse-paper copies have all these figures but lack 384-1.
• Royal-paper and coarse-paper copies: Paper, size, and number printed are the same as first state, volume I. Copies are the same as first state, volume II, plus the royal-paper copy in the Aitken collection, University of Texas.

Second State, Volume III.

• Title: MISCELLANIES. / [rule] / THE / LIFE / OF / Mr. JONATHAN WILD / THE GREAT. / [rule] / VOL. III. / [rule] / By Henry Fielding, Esq; / [rule] / The SECOND EDITION. / [rule] / LONDON, / Printed for A. Millar, opposite to Catharine-/Street in the Strand. MDCCXLIII.
• Collation and Contents: Same as first state of this volume.
• Press figures: Copies of the second state have all the figures listed above for the first state, and in addition they are the only copies that have figure 418-1 in 2E.
• Coarse paper: Paper, size, and number printed are the same as second state, volume I. Copies are the same as second state, volume II.

The printer of volume III was William Bowyer the younger, and the entry in his ledger reads as follows:[14]