"The first sketch of this Poem was written in less than a fortnight's time, in 1711..."(or so Pope wrote in 1736. The exact fortnight hasn't been identified, although sometime during August and/or September seems most likely.) Copies of the poem were distributed to the Fermor and Petrie families, and as Pope wrote to Joseph Spence: "copies of it got about, and 'twas like to be printed, on which I published the first draught of it (without the machinery)...." Pope sold his 2 canto, 334 line poem to Bernard Lintott (or Lintot) for 7 pounds on 21 March, 1712; it was published in May.

By 1714 the "machinery" had been added, extending the poem to 5 cantos and 794 lines. This time Pope earned 15 pounds, and Linotott arranged to include 6 copper-plate engravings by Du Guernier and Du Bosc. The edition was a huge success. Pope claimed (to John Caryll) "[the poem] has in four days time sold to the number of three thousand," and by July he reported sales of over 6000. Two more printings were needed in 1714, and a new printing was done in each of 1715,1718, and 1723.

The version of the poem available at this site is based on the 1717 poem found in Pope's Works. The only substantial way it differs from the 1714 version is the inclusion of Clarissa's speech at the start of Canto V. Clarissa, Pope tells us, was a "new Character introduced in the subsequent Editions, to open more clearly the MORAL of the Poem...." (Clarissa had in fact made her cameo appearance as provider of the scissors in both the 1712 and 1714 versions of the poem.)

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