It was on the 17th of February that the first volume of the great work finally "declined into the World," as the author expressed it. Its success was immediate. "I am at a loss how to describe the success of the work without betraying the vanity of the writer. The first impression was exhausted in a few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to the demand, and the bookseller's property was twice invaded by the pyrates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost on every toilette...."
The second edition was called for in 1776. On May 20th Gibbon writes to J. B. Holroyd:
"In about a fortnight I again launch into the World in the shape of a quarto Volume. The dear Cadell assures me that he never remembered so eager and impatient a demand for a second Edition." And again in June he writes to the same: "The 1500 Copies are moving off with decent speed, and the obliging Cadell begins to mutter something of a third Edition for next year." This third edition did not, however, appear until 1782.
In June, 1780, we find our author busy revising and correcting for the press the second and third volumes of the first edition, both of which appeared the next year. Under date of April 13, 1781, he writes to his stepmother:
"The reception of these two volumes has been very unlike that of the first, and yet my vanity is so very dextrous, that I am not displeased with the difference. The effects of novelty could no longer operate, and the public was not surprised by the unexpected appearance of a new and unknown author. The progress of these two volumes has hitherto been quiet and silent. Almost everybody that reads has purchased, but few persons (comparatively) have read them; and I find that the greatest number, satisfied that they have acquired a valuable fund of entertainment, differ the perusal to the summer, the country, and a more quiet period. Yet I have reason to think, from the opinion of some judges, that my reputation has not suffered by this publication. The Clergy (such is the advantage of a total loss of character) commend my decency and moderation: but the patriots wish to down the work and the author."
The concluding volumes were delayed for various reasons as Gibbon said to Lord Sheffield in July, 1786: "A book takes more time in making than a pudding." In June, 1787, he says: "I am building a great book, which, besides the three stories already exposed to the public eye, will have three stories more before we reach the roof and battlement," and promises that, with the diligence and speed then exerted, he hopes to be able to have the work ready for the press in August, or perhaps July. In an earlier letter he says: