81. History | Of The | Conquest Of Peru, | [Three lines] By | William H. Prescott, | [Two lines] [Quotations] In Two Volumes. | Volume I. | New York: | Harper And Brothers, 82 Cliff Street. | MDCCCXLVII.
George Ticknor, in his life of Prescott, gives the story of the production of the History in the following words:
"The composition of the 'Conquest of Peru' was, therefore, finished within the time he had set for it a year previously, and the work being put to press without delay, the printing was completed in the latter part of March, 1847; about two years and nine months from the day when he first put pen to paper. It made just a thousand pages, exclusive of the Appendix, and was stereotyped under the careful correction and supervision of his friend Mr. Folsom of Cambridge.
"While it was passing through the press, or just as the stereotyping was fairly begun, he made a contract with the Messrs. Harper to pay for seven thousand five hundred copies on the day of publication at the rate of one dollar per copy, to be sold within two years, and to continue to publish at the same rate afterwards, or to surrender the contract to the author at his pleasure; terms, I suppose, more liberal than had ever been offered for a work of grave history on this side of the Atlantic. In London it was published by Mr. Bentley, who purchased the copyright for eight hundred pounds, under the kind auspices of Colonel Aspinwall; again a large sum, as it was already doubtful whether an exclusive privilege could be legally maintained in Great Britain by a foreigner."
The demand for the book was large: in five months five thousand copies were sold in America, and an edition of half that number sold in England. By January 1, 1860, there had been sold of the American and English editions together, 16,965 copies. It was translated into Spanish, French, German, and Dutch.
Octavo.
Collation: Two volumes. Volume I: xl, 527 pp. Volume II: xix, 547 pp.