encouragement of a poet who delighted all, and by whom none had been
offended. With these hopes, he offered an English "Iliad" to
subscribers, in six volumes in quarto, for six guineas, a sum
according to the value of money at that time by no means
inconsiderable, and greater than I believe to have been ever asked
before. His proposal, however, was very favourably received, and
the patrons of literature were busy to recommend his undertaking and
promote his interest. Lord Oxford, indeed, lamented that such a
genius should be wasted upon a work not original, but proposed no
means by which he might live without it. Addison recommended
caution and moderation, and advised him not to be content with the
praise of half the nation when he might be universally favoured.

The greatness of the design, the popularity of the author, and the
attention of the literary world, naturally raised such expectations
of the future sale, that the booksellers made their offers with
great eagerness; but the highest bidder was Bernard Lintot, who
became proprietor on condition of supplying, at his own expense, all
the copies which were to be delivered to subscribers, or presented
to friends, and paying two hundred pounds for every volume.

Of the quartos it was, I believe, stipulated that none should be
printed but for the author, that the subscription might not be
depreciated; but Lintot impressed the same pages upon a small folio,
and paper perhaps a little thinner, and sold exactly at half the
price, for half a guinea each volume, books so little inferior to
the quartos that, by fraud of trade, those folios being afterwards
shortened by cutting away the top and bottom, were sold as copies
printed for the subscribers.