57. An | Inquiry | Into The | Nature and Cauſes | Of The | Wealth Of Nations. | By Adam Smith, LL.D. and F. R. S. | Formerly Profeſſor of Moral Philoſophy in the Univerſity of Glasgow. | In Two Volumes | Vol. I. | London: | Printed for W. Strahan; And T. Cadell, In The Strand. | MDCCLXXVI.
It is doubtful if any English book were ever longer in being put to press than this one. Mr. John Rae, in his life of Smith, says he took twelve years to write it, and that it was in contemplation twelve years before that. It was explicitly and publicly promised in the concluding paragraph of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which appeared in 1759.
Nothing definite is known of the terms on which the author parted with the work to his publishers, but it is thought to have been sold outright. It is estimated that Strahan paid five hundred pounds for the first edition, and that he published later editions at half profit. The selling price of the first edition was £1 16s. The edition was exhausted in six months, but the number of copies is unknown.
Beginning as a printer, in which capacity we have already seen him in connection with Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, Strahan rose rapidly to eminence as a publisher, figuring prominently in the ventures of Hume, Gibbon, Robertson, Blackstone, and Blair. He introduced into his dealings with his clients amenities unknown before. His pecuniary successes, as in this case, enabled him to set up the coach which Dr. Johnson said was a credit to literature.
Quarto.
Collation: Two volumes. Volume I: 6 ll., 510 pp. Volume II: 2 ll., 587 pp.