retends the Coppy Came from
England, But I am of Another Opinion. I shall Trouble you no
farther about it because if possible I can get it Coppyed, I will
Transmit the Coppy by Next post, for I have the Originall in My
hand. They Expect I shall Encourage and assist them in the
Mannageing it, and Till I can Take a Coppy I shall not Undeciev
them.[9]

There is no evidence to suggest that Harley doubted Defoe's disclaimer
or that Defoe sent the copy to Harley.

Since Defoe was back in London on 13 February 1711, _Atalantis Major_
must have been seen through the press sometime between 26 December and
the end of January, not, as Moore lists it, "before 26 December
1710."[10] Internal evidence suggests an even narrower range of
probable dates of publication. The last four pages of _Atalantis Major_
deal with the Duke of Argyll being given command of the English forces
in Spain and the singular lack of grace with which he undertook this
command. Since Argyll was not given command of the Peninsula campaign
until 11 January 1711, it could not be until after this date that the
manuscript could have been finished and printed.

The work bears few signs of being hastily printed. There are only nine
typographical errors,[11] and four of these are catchwords. There is no
evidence to suggest that there was more than one printing of the
pamphlet,[12] and the use of several Scotticisms[13] seems to offer
support for the contention that the pamphlet was intended for a
primarily Scottish audience.

William Lee was the first to ascribe the work to Defoe, and this
ascription has been accepted by both Dottin and Moore.[14] The evidence
for assigning this work to Defoe seems to rest on the two letters to
Harley quoted above. Another proof of Defoe's authorship of _Atalantis
Major_ is to be found in the remark it contains, "That the Southern
Part of the Island [that is, England] was the most remarkable of any,
as to the Policy of their Government, and the Character of the People;
and excepting _Englishmen_ and _Polanders_, there is not such another
Nation in the World" (p. 12). In 1704 Defoe had written _The Dyet of
Poland_, a poem in which he had made a similar unflattering comparison
between England and Poland. A far more substantial case for Defoe's
authorship can be made from the existence of the anecdote of John
White, Edinburgh's hangman, in both a letter to Harley (18 November
1710) and the _Review_ (for 30 N