A publisher found
This advice Biddle
in due time felt impelled to accept, and
February 23d, 1813, tells Clark
that having found Bradford's
terms "not such as I thought advantageous I
made
proposals to all the booksellers in town. The stagnation
in that branch of business was so
great that
no one was willing to embark in it, and after a great deal of
fruitless negociation I was obliged to return and on the advice
of
Mr. Conrad accept Mr. Bradford's
proposals. . . I now
wait only for the engravers who will soon I hope
finish their
work and then we can strike off the printing immediately
& in
a little time the work will be published." Nevertheless a year
was spent in the mechanical execution of the two small volumes.
Meanwhile the publishing firm of Bradford & Inskeep, who
had
undertaken the work, in their turn became insolvent and
at the actual time
of publication (February 20, 1814)[38]
were in
the bankruptcy court.
