volume.

The tract passed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, before or early in
September, and it would indeed be interesting to know [19]how and
through whose hands it passed before reaching Marmaduke Johnson--to his
undoing. Hezekiah Usher was the only bookseller in Boston at the time,
and possibly his son, John, may have been associated with him. They
ordered what they desired from London booksellers and publishers, and
may have received voluntary consignments of publications from London.
That would be a somewhat precarious venture, for nothing could be more
different than the reading markets in Boston and in London, especially
in the lighter products of the press. Had it come through the Ushers,
the title-page might state that it had been printed "by M. J. for
Hezekiah Usher," but in that event Usher would have suffered for not
obtaining the needed license. The probability is that Johnson was alone
responsible and was tempted by the hope of gain.

These were all contemporary issues, coming from the press within six
months of the first appearance of the tract in London. So startling a
popularity, so widely shown, was a tribute to the opportunity rather
than to the contents of the piece. And the European interest continued
for a full century. In Germany it was included in a number of
collections of voyages, in Denmark it was printed in 1710 and 1789,
and in France Abbe Prevost took it for his compilation of 1767 on
discoveries. The English republication of 1778 has peculiar interest,
for it was due to no other than Thomas Hollis, the benefactor of the
library of Harvard College, who saw more in the tract than can now be
recognized, and induced Cadell to reprint it.

[20]

THE S.G. NOT A CAMBRIDGE IMPRINT

In the absence of any positive objection, the conclusion of the auction
expert--that the S. G. imprint was one of Samuel Green of Cambridge,
Massachusetts--remained unquestioned. But a study of editions and of the
chronological sequence of the English issues offers a decided negative
to such a conclusion. The first part was licensed June 27, 1668. Van
Sloetten dated the second part July 22, 1668, and the issue of the
combined parts was licensed five days later, July 27. In the space
of just four weeks all three trads were licensed, and the actual
publication must have occurred within the same period of time. Such had
been the start obtained by the first part that on the continent it was
used for reprint and tran