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Chapter 1 Page 1

To the Right Honourable Philip Lord Hardwicke Baron of Hardwicke in the County of Gloucester Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain:

Humbly Complaining Sheweth unto Your Lordship Your Orator Alexander Pope of Twickenham in the County of Middlesex Esquire That
by an Act of Parliament made in the Eighth Year of the Reign of her late Majestie Queen Ann Intitled an Act for Encouragement of
Learning by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasors of such Copies during the times therein mencioned It is
among other things Enacted that the Author of any Book or Books Composed on the Tenth day of April One thousand seven hundred & ten
and not Printed & Published or that should hereafter be Composed & his Assignee or Assignes should have the sole liberty of Printing &
Reprinting such Book & Books for the Term of Fourteen Years to Commence from the day of the first Publishing the same As by the said
Act of Parliament to which your Orator craves leave to referr himself may appear And your Orator sheweth that he hath at different times
wrote several Letters between the Years One thousand seven hundred and fourteen & One thousand seven hundred & thirty eight upon
various subjects addressed to the Reverend Dr Swift Dean of St Patricks in the Kingdom of Ireland bearing date respectively the Eighteenth
of June One thousand seven hundred and fourteen Twentieth of June One thousand seven hundred & sixteen, Twelfth of January One
thousand seven hundred & twenty three, Fourteenth of September One thousand seven hundred & twenty five, Fifteenth of October One
thousand seven hundred and twenty five, Tenth of December one thousand seven hundred & twenty five, Twenty second of August One
thousand seven hundred & twenty six, Third of September One thousand seven hundred & twenty six, Sixteenth of November One thousand
seven hundred & twenty six, Eighth of March One thousand seven hundred & twenty six/seven, Second of October One thousand seven
hundred and twenty seven, Twenty third of March One thousand seven hundred & twenty seven/eight, Twenty eighth of June One thousand
seven hundred & twenty eight, Twelfth of November One thousand seven hundred & twenty eight, Ninth of October One thousand seven
hundred & twenty nine, Twenty eighth of November One thousand seven hundred & twenty nine, Fourteenth of April One thousand seven
hundred & thirty, December the Fifth One thousand seven hundred & thirty two, Sixteenth of February One thousand seven hundred
& thirty two/three, Second of April One thousand seven hundred & thirty three, Twenty eighth of May One thousand seven hundred & thirty
three, First of September One thousand seven hundred & thirty three, Sixth of January One thousand seven hundred & thirty four, Fifteenth
of September One thousand seven hundred & thirty four, Nineteenth of December One thousand seven hundred & thirty four, Twenty fifth
of March, One thousand seven hundred & thirty six, Seventeenth of August One thousand seven hundred & thirty six, Thirtieth of December
One thousand seven hundred & thirty six, Twenty third of March One thousand seven hundred & thirty six/seven, And your Orator further
sheweth that your Orator was the Sole Author of the said Letters & having never disposed of the Copy right of such Letters to any person or
persons whatsoever And your Orator had & has the Sole & Absolute right of Printing Reprinting Vending & Selling the same as he should
think fit And your Orator sheweth that your Orator during the said Period of Time received several Letters from the said Dr Swift bearing
date respectively the Twenty Eighth of June One thousand seven hundred & fifteen, Thirtieth of August One thousand seven hundred &
Sixteen, Twentieth of September One thousand seven hundred & twenty three, Twenty ninth of September One thousand seven hundred &
twenty five, Twenty sixth of November One thousand seven hundred & twenty five, Fourth May One thousand seven hundred & twenty six,
Seventeenth of November One thousand seven hundred & Twenty six, Fifth of December One thousand seven hundred & twenty six,
Twelfth of October One thousand seven hundred & twenty seven, Thirtieth of October One thousand seven hundred & twenty seven, Tenth
of May One thousand seven hundred & Twenty Eight, First of June One thousand seven hundred & twenty eight, Sixteenth of July One
thousand seven hundred & Twenty eight, Thirteenth of February, One thousand seven hundred & twenty eight, Eleventh of August
One thousand seven hundred & twenty nine, Thirty first of October One thousand seven hundred & twenty nine, Twelfth of June, One
thousand seven hundred & thirty two, First of May One thousand seven hundred & thirty three, Eighth of July One thousand seven hundred
& thirty three, First of November One thousand seven hundred & thirty four, Twelfth of May One thousand seven hundred & thirty five, ^
3rd of September 1735^ Twenty first of October One thousand seven hundred & thirty five, Seventh of February, One thousand seven
hundred and thirty five/six, Ninth of February One thousand seven hundred & thirty five/six, Twenty second of April One thousand seven
hundred & thirty six, Second of December One thousand seven hundred & thirty six, Thirty first of May One thousand seven hundred &
thirty seven, Twenty third of July One thousand seven hundred & thirty seven, Eighth of August One thousand seven hundred & thirty eight
And your Orator hoped that neither his said writings or Letters whereof the Property is vested in your Orator as Author thereof nor those
other Letters which were sent & addressed to your Orator would have been Printed Published or Sold without your Orators Consent But now
so it is may it please your Lordship that Edmund Curl of the Parish of St Paul Covent Garden in the County of Middlesex Bookseller
Combining and Confrating with divers persons to your Orator unknown whose Names when discovered your Orator prays he may be at
Liberty to Insert in this his Bill of Complaint & make them Parties hereto with apt words to Charge them Contrive & Endeavour to defeat &
defraud your Orator in this behalf And in Order thereto the said Edmund Curl altho’ he is well assured of your Orators right to the said
writings Letters & all benefit thereof has lately Printed & Published or Caused to be Printed & Published a Book with the following Title
that is to say Dean Swifts Literary Correspondence for Twenty Four Years from 1714 to 1738 Consisting of Original Letters to &

from Mr Pope, Dr Swift, Mr Gay, Lord Bolingbroke, Dr Arbuthnott, Dr Wotton, Bishop Atterbury, Duke & Dutchess of Queensbury,
London, Printed for E Curl, at Popes head in Rose Street Covent Garden MDCCXLI, Price 4 S: Sewed 5 S Bound And in the said Book so
Published by the said Edmund Curl are contained the said Writings or Letters bearing date respectively as aforesaid Composed by your
Orator & Addressed to the said Dr Swift and also the said Letters bearing date as aforesaid wrote by the said Dr Swift & sent to your Orator
and your Orator Charges that the said Edmund Curll & the rest of the Confrates have & have sold & Disposed of a Great Number &
Quantity of the said Surreptious & Pyrate Edition of the said Letters & threaten that they will Continue to Sell & Dispose of the same in
Open Defiance of the Law & of your Orators Just Title to the said Letters In Tender Consideracion whereof & for that your Orator is
without Remedy by the Common Law & cannot Obtain a Discovery of the Numbers which have been Printed & Sold of such Surreptious &
Pyrated Edition nor get an Account of the Money which the said Confrates have received for what they have respectively sold nor Restrain
the said Confrates from Selling such Writings so illegally Printed but by the Aid of a Court of Equity To the End therefore that the said
Edmund Curl & the rest of the Confrates when discovered may upon their respective Corporal Oaths true & perfect Answer make to all &
singular the Premisses & that as fully & particularly as if the same were herein again repeated & Interrogated into (your Orator hereby
Leaving & Disclaiming all Penaltys & Forfeitures whatsoever given or allowed by the said Act) & may according to the best of their
respective knowledge Information remembrance & belief setforth whether your Orator was not & is the Sole Author & Proprietor of such
part of the said Book as Purports to be Letters Written by your Orator & whether your Orator has ever & when Disposed of his Right therein
to any person or persons & whom & whether your Orator has not the Sole & Absolute Right of Printing & Reprinting Vending or Selling
such Letters & whether the said Confrates or any & which of them or any other person or persons & who with their or which of their privity
knowledge or Procurement have not Printed & Published or Caused to be Printed & Published any & what number of Books under the
aforesaid title of Dean Swifts Literary Correspondence for Twenty four Years from 1714 to 1738 Consisting of Original Letters to & from
Mr Pope, Dr Swift, Mr Gay, Lord Bolingbrook, Dr Arbuthnott, Dr Wotton, Bishop Atterbury, Duke & Dutchess of Queensbury,
London, Printed for E Curll, at Popes Head in Rose Street Covent Garden MDCCXLI Price 4 s Sewed 5 s Bound or under any other & what
Title & whether the said Confrates do not know or believe that your Orator was & is the Sole Author & Proprietor of the Letters said to be
wrote by your Orator & contained in the said Book so printed & Published by the Defendant as aforesaid & whether the said Confrates or
any of them have ever had any Licence or Authority from your Orator to Print or Publish any of your Orators said Letters or any of the said
Letters sent by the said Dr Swift to your Orator in manner aforesaid or in any other manner whatsoever & if not why they have done the
same & may setforth what Right or Title they or any of them have or pretend to have to your Orators Letters or the said Letters wrote to
your Orator as aforesaid or any part thereof & how many Books or Copies of the said Book so illegally Printed & Published by the said
Edmund Curll as aforesaid have been at any time sold by the said Confrates or any or which of them & at & for what price & what profit
they have made & gotten thereby & may setforth all Agreements made between the said Confrates or any of them or any other person or
persons & whom in relacion to the Printing in Pyratt & Illegal Edition or the Profits Arising thereby & the Names of all & every Person &
Persons who are or have been any ways Concerned Aiding or Assisting in the Printing or Publishing Buying or Selling thereof & whether
such proceedings of the said Confrates are not or will be any & what Prejudice to your Orator in preventing your Orator from Printing
Publishing & Selling the said Letters & that the said Confrates may setforth how many Books or Copies of the said Pyrated or Illegal
Edition remain unsold in the Custody or power of them or any and which of them & that the same & every of them may be delivered up to
be disposed of as this Honourable Court shall direct & that the said Defendants & their Confrates may severally Account with your Orator
for all profits & advantages which they or any of them have Jointly or Severally made or Gotten by reason or means of the said Pyrated &
Illegal Edition & may Pay your Orator the same & may be restrained by the Injuncion of this Honourable Court from Vending selling or
disposing of any of the said Books or Copies of the said Writings or Letters whereof your Orator is Author or Proprietor so by means some
of them illegally Printed & Published as aforesaid & from Printing Publishing or Selling any New or other Edition thereof for the future &
that your Orator may have such further & other releif in the premises as shall be agreable to the nature of his case & the Rules of Equity &
good Conscience May it please your Lordship not only to grant unto your Orator his Majesties most gracious Writ of Injuncion to restrain
the said Edmund Curll from Vending Selling or Disposing of any of the said Books or Copies of the said Writings or Letters but also his
Majesties most gracious Writ of [something] to be directed to the said Edmund Curll thereby Comanding him at a certain day & under a
Certain pain therein to be Limitted Personally to be & appear before your Lordship in this high & honourable Court then & there on his
Corporal Oath true direct distinct & perfect Answer to make to all & singular the premises & further to stand to Obey Abide & perform
such Order Direction & Decree therein as to your Lordship shall seem meet And your Orator shall ever pray –
Macklen                                                                                                                        W: Murray

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Chapter 1 Page 2

Sworn at the publick office}            Bridges by F. W. Osbaldeston, 15 June 1741
the 13th June 1741}                        The Answer of Edmund Curll Bookseller to the Bill of Complaint of Alexander Pope Complainant
                        Fran Eld
This Defendant now & all times hereafter saving & resolving to himself all and all manner of Benefit and Advantage of Exception that may
be had & taken to ^the^ many untruths uncertainties and other Insufficiencies in the Complainants said bill of Complaint conteined for
Answer thereunto or unto so much thereof as he is advised is material for him to make answer unto He answereth and saith That he admits
by an Act of Parliament made in the Eighth year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Ann Intitled an Act for the Encouragement of
Learning by Vesting the Copies of printed Books in the Authors or purchasors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned
It was among other Things enacted to the Intent and purport for that purpose set forth in the Complainants said bill And this Defendant
further Answereth & saith that he does not of his own Knowledge know nor can set forth whether the Complainant was not or is the sole
Author and proprietor of such part of the Book in the Complainants said Bill mencioned as purports to be letters written by the Complainant
& Addressed to the Reverend Doctor Swift Dean of Saint Patricks in the Kingdom of Ireland in the said Bill named bearing date the
respective dates in the said Bill mentioned And this Defendant saith he doth not know nor can set forth otherwise than as hereinafter is
mentioned whether ^the^ Commplainant has ever disposed of his Right therein to any Person or Persons or whether the Complainant hath
the sole and absolute Right of Printing and Reprinting vending or Selling such letters But this Defendant saith that all the letters mentioned
in the Complainants said Bill of Complaint were as this Defendant verily believes Actually sent & delivered by and to the several
Persons by whom & to whom they severally Purport to have been written & Addressed & therefore this Defendant is Advised and Humbly
Insists that the Complainant is not to be Considered as the Author & Proprietor of all or any of the said letters And this Defendant is also
advised & Humbly Insists that the said letters are not a work of that nature & sole Right of Printing whereof was Intended to be Preserved
by the said Statute to the Author and his Assignee or Assigns But this Defendant doth Admitt that he has Printed or Caused to be Printed
five hundred Copies only of the said letters together with several other Papers under the Title of Dean Swifts Literary Correspondance for
Twenty four years from One Thousand seven hundred and fourteen to One Thousand seven hundred and Thirty Eight Consisting of Original
letters to and from Mr Pope, Doctor Swift, Mr Gay, Lord Bolingbroke & letters from Dean Swift to the Duke and Dutchess of Queensbury
Illustrated with Explanatory notes and a Key Throughout To which are subjoyned first Philosophical letters between Doctor Arburthnot &
Doctor Wotton, concerning the Deluge & the case of Marine Bodies dug out of the Earth second Classical letters written in Exile, from
Bishop Atterbury to Doctor Friend Third a letter from Doctor Crichton at Guiney concerning the Climate of that Country foarth a letter from
the late Barnham Goode Esquire to a Lady who had great Faith in fortune Telling fifth Dean Swifts present Case in verse Sixth Epitaph for
him self By Mr Pope printed for E Curll, in Rose Street Covent Garden J Jackson in Saint James Street H Chappelle in Grosvenor
Street & E Cooke under the Royal Exchange of which he has sold but sixteen Copies which were sold at the price of four shillings each to
Gentleman Purchasors and Three shillings and six pence to Booksellers But this Defendant hath been stayed in the sale of the rest of them
by the Injunction of this Honourable Court and this Defendant further Answereth and saith that he never had any expresse Lycence or
Authority to print of publish any of the Complainants said letters or any of the said letters sent by the said Doctor Swift to the Complainant
But this Defendant saith he is Informed & verily beleives that the said letters were first printed at Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland by Mr
George Faulkener Bookseller there & as it said by the direction of the said Doctor Swift to whom the said Letters written by the
Complainant were addressed & by whom the said letters addressed to the Complainant were written as this Defendant beleives and this
Defendant is advised & humbly Insists that all persons in this Kingdom have a Right to reprint such books as are first published
in Ireland & that such as are first published here may be lawfully reprinted in that Kingdom & this Defendant is Informed & beleives that
the practice of Booksellers in both Kingdoms hath been Agreeable thereto & as this Defendant hath only reprinted the said letters from the
said Dublin Edition He is advised & Humbly Insists he hath done nothing but what was lawfull for him to do And this Defendant saith that
one Third part of this Defendants said Book consists of peices not before published composed by Doctor Arbuthnot Doctor Wotton Doctor
Atterbury the late Bishop of Rochester Barnam Goode Esquire & Doctor Crichton some of which were given to & others purchased by this
Defendant & in which this Defendant hath the Sole property and that part of the said Book which the Complainant claims property in is no
more than one fifth part of the said Book being but four sheets out of Twenty of which the book printed by this Defendant consists and this
Defendant does deny that he has made any Agreement with any person or persons in relation to the printings the said Edition of this
Defendants Book of the Profitts arising thereby except the Agreement made by this Defendant with the Person who printed the same for this
Defendant And this Defendant saith that the Complainant is not Intitled as he Humbly Apprehends and Insists to have any Account
of Profitts from this Defendant for the reasons aforesaid But Humbly hopes that he shall be permitted to sell his said Book reprinted from
the Dublin Edition of the said letters as aforesaid And this Defendant denyes all unlawfull Combination & Confederacy as the said Bill
Charged against him without that that there is any other matter or thing in the Complainants said bill of Complaint Conteined material or
Effectuall for this Defendant to make Answer unto & not herewith and hereby Sufficiently Answered unto Confessed or Avoided Traversed
or denyed is true to the Knowledge & beleif of this Defendant all which matters and things this Defendant is ready to averr and prove as this
Honourable Court shall Award And Humbly prays to be hence dismissed with his reasonable Costs and Charges in this behalf unjustly by
him susteined
                                                                                                                        John Browning
Osbaldeston                                                                                                                  Edmd Curll
            J:B:




Transcription by: Kate Brookson-Morris