Not a single
copy of the first edition is known to be in existence. The year of
publication has not been ascertained. It is probable that during some
months, the little volume circulated only among poor and obscure
sectaries. But soon the irresistible charm of a book which gratified the
imagination of the reader with all the action and scenery of a fairy
tale, which exercised his ingenuity by setting him to discover a
multitude of curious analogies, which interested his feelings for human
beings, frail like himself, and struggling with temptations from within
and from without, which every moment drew a smile from him by some
stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry, and nevertheless left on his
mind a sentiment of reverence for God and of sympathy for man, began to
produce its effect. In Puritanical circles, from which plays and novels
were strictly excluded, that effect was such as no work of genius,
though it were superior to the "Iliad," to "Don Quixote," or to
"Othello," can ever produce on a mind accustomed to indulge in literary
luxury. In 1668 came forth a second edition, with additions; and then
the demand became immense. In the four following years the book was
reprinted six times. The eighth edition, which contains the last
improvements made by the author, was published in 1682, the ninth in
1684, the tenth in 1685. The help of the engraver had early been called
in, and tens of thousands of children looked with terror and delight on
execrable copperplates, which represented Christian thrusting his sword
into Apollyon or writhing in the grasp of Giant Despair.
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