The Adventures of Roderick Random

Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771).
The Adventures of Roderick Random... Third edition. London: Printed for J. Osborn, 1750. 2 volumes.
(SPL) PR 3694 .R6 1750

For the 1748 edition of Roderick Random, bookseller James Rivington in a 1757 trade sale offered a 1/32 share, along with half of a 3/32 share of 1719's Robinson Crusoe (by Defoe). This type of transaction—selling parts of current stocks and shares of literary properties—had become common by the mid-1700s; formerly, only whole or remaining publishers’ and booksellers’ stocks were offered for sale.

Tobias Smollett also wrote in other genres besides the novel. For example, he wrote a Complete History of England, published in 1757-58, which was a continuation of David Hume’s history and was among the most popular multivolume works of the 1700s. Scholars credit the success of Smollett’s history to an extensive advertising campaign including advance advertisements in newspapers and prospectuses for forthcoming volumes, which were available at bookstores.